Tag Archives: human rights

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Protect children from violence

More than 200 teachers trained on the prevention of violence against children

Since 2017 Nai Qala has been running a pre-school program. Originally with 3 classes, the program currently targets 90 classes for nearly 2,000 children in 3 provinces. Nai Qala trains the teachers, pays their salaries and equips the classrooms with the right  equipment to accommodate and teach the children. The association ensures a regular follow-up  of the classes and evaluates the project throughout the school year. The program is having a clear impact: thanks to the academic and social skills they acquire, the children are ready to start primary school, and their parents are more inclined to send them to school.

Over the last 5 years, many improvements have been made to the project. During their induction training and refresher seminars, pre-school teachers acquire skills in health, nutrition and hygiene and improve their teaching skills. Raising parents’ awareness of these issues is an integral part of the teachers’ job description.

Primary school teachers are not ready

Working closely with pre-school teachers and local communities has highlighted behaviors that are detrimental to children’s well-being and prompted Nai Qala to emphasize children’s rights in teacher training. The implementation of the project has improved the understanding of children’s rights and their protection within the communities. However, the evaluation of the pre-school program revealed a significant shortcoming when the young beneficiaries start primary school and are confronted with inappropriate behavior from their teacher.

In Afghanistan, beating and other forms of aggression are often considered normal practice for disciplining and educating children. Unfortunately, teachers are unaware of the harmful effects of such violence on children’s abilities and future well-being, and of other methods of maintaining discipline and encouraging pupils to study. The belief that “good manners cannot be learned without blows” is well established.For victims of violence, school can become a trial rather than an opportunity. The promise and potential of education and the excitement of discovery and learning are undermined by pain, trauma and fear. The experience of violence at school is a cause of school drop-outs.

Raising awareness and building the capacity of teachers

To address the shortcomings of the teaching profession, Nai Qala has set up a violence prevention program. The association invited primary school teachers and the heads of the primary schools to which the pre-school classes are attached. More than 130 teachers from around sixty primary schools in the provinces of Bamyan, Daikundi and Ghazni took part in a week’s training alongside 90 teachers from Nai Qala’s pre-school classes.

The program included a refresher course on child development and needs, psychology, an introduction to positive classroom management, pedagogy and the implementation of strategies to prevent violence in schools. The pre-school teachers were active participants, inspiring the primary school teachers and sharing their experiences.

The violence prevention program runs throughout the school year and includes several training modules and on-site monitoring by trained staff. Each primary school has put in place an action plan. After just a few weeks, concrete changes are taking place. Most schools have already raised awareness of the issue among teachers who were not present at the training session. Some headteachers worked together to set up a timetable linked to learning objectives, a gap and source of stress for teachers. Other schools invited parents to an information session. Some teachers drew up a charter of good conduct with their pupils. On a more personal level, many participants questioned their behavior as teachers… and also as parents.Following on from the program that has already been in place for several years, the teachers in the pre-school classes run by Nai Qala are applying positive pedagogy in the classroom and encouraging parents to behave in a caring manner.

Breaking the patterns of violence

Schools are uniquely placed to provide quality education and to offer children the opportunity to cultivate their creative and critical talents, to acquire practical skills, to develop their self-esteem and social relationships, and to grow in dignity as individuals. Schools can also serve as important resources for the development and speading of the values of non-violence, cooperation, tolerance, and respect, not only among pupils and teaching staff but also beyond, into families and the wider community.

Education has a unique potential to create an environment where attitudes that tolerate violence can be changed and where non-violent behavior can be learned. From an early age, schools and teachers are well placed to break patterns of violence and provide skills in communication, negotiation, and support for peaceful solutions to conflict. Teachers are respected actors within communities and are empowered to pass on the message to parents and the wider community.

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Thoughts for Women’s Day

Some thoughts about the International Women’s Day by Taiba Rahim, president of the Nai Qala Association

On the 8th of March, millions of people across the world celebrated International Women’s Day. While this was also the case in previous decades, celebrations used to be limited to a few big cities in Afghanistan but now, it is a country-wide phenomenon, including rural areas.

On this day a beautiful memory about my mother also comes to my mind. She was just as courageous as my father.  45 years ago, she was honored by the local municipality and received a prize for having ensured that her 5 sons and 4 daughters went to school; this was very rare in Afghanistan at the time. 

I never forget her humility when receiving a flower bouquet and a silver brooch. This made me proud and inspired me as a young girl. Years later I founded the Nai Qala Association with a focus on the education of young girls. We are contributing to this change of culture and awareness. 

Although many challenges remain, more girls now go to school in Afghanistan, more women are pursuing careers and more men are aware of the important role of women in society. They stand more strongly beside their sisters, mothers and wives. 

I am very proud to be witnessing such a change and let us hope that this day will bring more awareness and contribute to a deeper understanding of the role of women in our society. It has always been an honor and privilege to observe and be part of such a change! 

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Promoting Children’s rights – Bamyan School Quiz Project

Nai Qala had the great honor to partner with UNICEF in Bamyan to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Nai Qala firmly believes that every child has fundamental rights. Over the past decade, we have been supporting children specifically through our educational projects – building of schools, setting up of preschool centers, preparing students for university, and running tutoring and teacher training programs. Nai Qala acknowledges that children will be the future actors for change and in this spirit, it is of utmost importance that their rights are recognized.

Bringing children’s rights to the forefront in Bamyan Province

It is with great pride that Nai Qala has worked together with UNICEF on a project to bring the Rights of the Child to the forefront in the Province of Bamyan and to help raise awareness.

A team of Nai Qala project officers was in charge of explaining children’s right to schoolchildren from grades 7 to 9, of distributing brochures and organizing quizzes in schools. The program was successfully implemented in 8 districts, covering 25 public schools and 6 accelerated learning centers for children between the ages of 13 to 15. An information booklet explaining children’s rights was distributed to 2’500 children who were the direct beneficiaries. Furthermore, each of the 2’500 booklets were taken home by students to their families, increasing the circle of indirect beneficiaries.

During morning assembly of each school, pupils from grades 7 to 9 were asked to read from the booklet aloud in front of all schoolmates, from primary to high school grade. This ensured that the message of the Convention on the Rights of the Child reached the largest audience possible. For 25 schools, an estimated total of 12,500 students learned about the convention. Overall, more than 25’000 people were made aware directly or indirectly of children’s rights.

A quiz specially developed on this subject was then held in each school for children aged 13-15 years. The winner of the local school competition had the chance to take the next step and participate in a competition at the district level, for entry into the grand final in Bamyan city. Nai Qala’s team was very touched to see the great enthusiasm of all the children who worked so hard to be the winners.

Difficult conditions but strong motivation

Nai Qala’s project team travelled in the most isolated areas of the Province, facing rain and snow. Sometimes project officers had to go by foot as the roads were muddy or icy and it was simply impossible to travel by car however the team persevered and remained determined. There could have been dozens of excuses for not implementing this project in difficult areas… 

The purpose of the project was certainly the best reason for such great commitment from the team. Field officers accepted and overcame these difficulties and rose to the challenge because they were convinced of the benefits of raising young people’s awareness of children’s rights.

Building on Nai Qala’s know how to advance the Rights of children

Over all these years, Nai Qala Association has created a strong network in the communities with a good reputation and managed to gain their trust. Our success with this project is all the more admirable as we must stress that we presented it to traditional communities that were generally less receptive to new ideas. It took the diplomacy and patience of our team to guide them.

Project team members took the time to discuss respectfully with local communities and were successful at encouraging children to take part in the competition. Incidentally, children from these remote communities were among the winners of the district competition and their proud parents accompanied them to Bamyan.

The grand final

Nai Qala is very proud to have successfully implemented this project with UNICEF and was especially pleased to honor this program on World Children’s day, in Bamyan, where the finals of the children’s rights quiz were held and have chosen 6 finalists, 3 girls and 3 boys. The ceremony was a high-profile event involving many respected officials from UNICEF and local authorities, but most importantly, over 400 children, parents, teachers and school headmasters from all the regions of the Province. It has been an honor to welcome them all to such a beautiful event and it is especially commendable for those who have travelled from the most remote regions, in spite of rain and snow on roads that were already difficult to pass due to lack of proper infrastructure. Many of them of them travelled such distances and left their villages for the first time ever.

We were particularly touched to see parents encourage their children and the teachers encourage their students not only during the finals but during the whole duration of the project. We are extremely grateful and privileged to be given such a unique chance and opportunity to contribute to improving awareness of children’s rights. We wish to thank UNICEF for partnering with Nai Qala Association and for the trust placed in us.

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Enabling, promoting and demonstrating human rights

Nai Qala contributes to the improvement of human rights in Afghanistan

The capacity of the Afghan State to deliver critical services such as education and health care and to respect, protect and fulfill human rights is limited. The remote rural areas have been traditionally neglected by successive central governments in Kabul and today those remote communities particularly feel the absence of a strong state response. Basic infrastructure and institutions such as schools and health clinics are lacking, undermining the state’s ability to ensure good health and educational standards. Schools and clinics, where they exist, are difficult to access for most people. Staff of such institutions often have little training and low motivation. Few trained staff agree to work in remote regions where living conditions can be harsh. Not surprisingly, many people have left the country to try to make better lives elsewhere and this constant rural exodus makes the situation worse for those who remain as it weakens the social fabric of these communities.

Women and girls are still deprived of basic human rights, facing multiple restrictions and discriminations, abuses and various forms of violence, while efforts to raise the status of women face continued opposition. Women’s roles and their potential, as contributors to social and economic development, are still overlooked.

Right to education

Education is a human right, enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Every girl and every boy should have the right to a quality education so that they can have more chances in life, including employment opportunities, better health and also to participate in the political process. A basic education is also important to ensure that all individuals are aware of their rights.

In Afghanistan, 28% of school-age children are out of school and only 18% of girls 15 and older are literate. Our work on the root causes of low or no attendance of children, in particular girls, to school remedies the absence of decent learning conditions such as absence of a proper school building, the low qualification of teachers, absence of hygiene facilities (especially for menstruated girls), and the absence of a boundary wall, while preventing at the same time drop out through motivation talks with parents and the community, offering pre-primary classes, and reducing the distance to school in remote rural regions.

Right to health

As for education, health is also a human right enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The human right to health means that everyone has the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, which includes access to all medical services, sanitation, adequate food, decent housing, healthy working conditions, and a clean environment.

 While 91 out of 1000 children still die before their 5thbirthday in Afghanistan, we improve health conditions by providing a health center (clinic) that positively impacts women and infant health, improves the vaccination coverage and provides basic health care to a population of >20’000.

Nai Qala teachers have received training on basic hygiene measures; they pass the message on to their students and the youngsters participating in the early childhood education classes learn why and how to wash their hands. Several gardening initiatives are promoted to enhance nutritional status of the entire family.

Empowering people to realize their rights

While the main goal of our teachers is to teach the children, we also want to seize the opportunity to help communities understand the concept of human rights, or why it is important to question old ideas and encourage girls’ education. We want the teachers to discuss issues such as education, health and equality with village elders and others. It takes time for people to accept new ideas, but they have shown a surprising interest so far.

Gender equality, enshrined in article I of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, stands at the core of Nai Qala’s activities. Nai Qala’s vision is “aneducated, healthy and balanced society in which women and men lead social, cultural and economic changes in an inclusive manner that enables their children – boys and girls – to thrive”. Our path to realise our vision is inclusive, patiently convincing elders, fathers, men. We aim at inducing small changes in the society by developing the capacities, opportunities and resources of local communities so that men, women, boys and girls can participate equally in family life and decisions and expand their fields of opportunities. We promote the participation of women in society as equals with men in decision making on issues that concern them, such as the education of their children, health of all family members and family economic income, as well as the inclusion of the full community in collective decision making such as construction, use and maintenance of local schools and clinics.

Human rights are interdependent, indivisible and interrelated. This means that the violation of the right to health may impede the enjoyment of other human rights, such as the right to education or the right to work, and vice versa. Without education, one is less likely to find well-paid jobs, decent housing, to participate in the democratic process or to recognize the value of education for future generations. According to the World Bank, there is evidence that educated citizens care more about the environment, are more tolerant of those who are different and are more inclined to fight for gender equality. Through education initiatives and actions targeting health, supported by an inclusive approach, Nai Qala strives to reduce inequalities and promote human rights.

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Gender equality

Nai Qala’s actions are aimed at reducing gender inequalities   

While the world has made progress towards gender equality and women’s empowerment, women and girls continue to suffer discrimination in all regions of Afghanistan. Literacy rate of young women is still only 57 percent of that of young men [1]. The indices for education attendance ratios also show unambiguous gender disparities, which decrease with the level of education (47.6 percent of girls attend primary; 23.7 percent attend secondary and 5.2 attend tertiary education level). The share of Afghan women participating in the economy is only one third of that of men, and the indices for unemployment and the proportion of youth outside education, employment or training show a very disadvantaged position of women on the labor market.

The gender gap in both education and economy suggests that cultural impediments prohibit tapping the development potential of girls and women in Afghan society and restrict their access to education and the labor market. In order to remedy this imbalance, Nai Qala has set gender equality at the core of all its projects. Nai Qala’s vision is an educated, healthy and balanced society in which women and men lead social, cultural and economic changes in an inclusive manner that enables their children – boys and girls – to thrive, focusing on neglected parts of Afghanistan.

Ease of access to quality education and health services

Long distance to school and reluctance to send children to school are by far the most common reasons for not starting school, whereas the need for child labor and perceived irrelevance of further education were the most important reasons highlighted by ALCS for terminating education [1]. In order to reduce walking distances, Nai Qala strives to build, or refurbish, schools and improve the quality of education in remote regions. A decent and closer learning environment as well as improved education services are a big motivation for children to (re-)attend school. Katawaie is a perfect illustration of the impact of a new building on children’s registration to school. After its inauguration, the school of Katawaie became a victim of its own success as the number of girl students increased by 25 percent and new classes had to be opened in the school’s courtyard. A similar impact is been seen in Zeera Gag  where initially the school was built for 520 girls but is today attended by 650 girls.

One of the most important findings of the living condition survey (ALCS) is that the main problem of the Afghan education system is not so much retention and drop out, but first and foremost making a start at school. Nai Qala has implemented early childhood education classes in two villages and plans to open new ones. Early childhood education classes not only help boys and girls to develop their imagination, talents and confidence from a very young age, but also teach them how to play together, inclusively, as a normal habit. Newly acquired attitudes, behaviors and experiences of young children contribute to their long-term success in school and reduce drop-out rates. The early childhood program also places a special focus on mothers, by actively involving them in the class. Such a program has a particular impact on the family. Mothers build their self-confidence and most importantly their awareness of how they can educate their children at young age to contribute to a more healthy family environment.

According to ALCS, an encouraging 70 percent of all women who had a baby in Afghanistan during the last five years had at least one antenatal check-up. However, only 16 percent received four antenatal check-ups, which is the number recommended by the World Health Organization for normal pregnancies. Again, distance to a health care center can be a contributing factor to low usage of health services but it is not the only one. Men with a health concern can travel to town to get treatment in a hospital, but the situation for sick or pregnant women is more challenging. A woman who is ill must be accompanied to hospital by a female and by a male relative. Some health problems require a longer stay in hospital and some need medical follow-up over months. Furthermore, families are often reluctant to pay the costs of prolonged hospitalization. Consequently, women simply do not travel to far away hospitals. Considering this fact, Nai Qala Association built a basic health center in Nawur. The percentage of births attended by skilled health personnel there is increasing each year; for 2017 alone, 126 babies were safely delivered in the Nawur health center. This clinic benefits 20’000 people and has transformed health conditions and hygiene habits in the region, for both women and men.

Leading the change by setting an example

The Nai Qala Association aims to contribute to cultural change in Afghanistan. The organization’s president, Taiba Rahim, is a role model in a country where female leadership [2] is still rare. Inspiring girls to see that change is possible and that women have an important role to play is crucial for the country’s future. There is a greater participation of women in Nai Qala’s projects than in any other similar project in the region. The women have seen that Nai Qala’s projects are proposed and led by a woman, which makes all the difference for them. Newly acquired strength and self-confidence prompted women in the remote village of Sokhtagi to create a women’s council, the first ever women’s council not only in the district, but certainly also throughout the province.

All Nai Qala’s local employees receive training on human rights and gender equality. Each staff member embodies the organization’s values through exemplarity of his/her practice and actions, in the office and in the field. Teacher-trainers have become Nai Qala’s best ambassadors to promote girls’ education, by discussing with the community and motivating parents in door-to-door operations.

Providing women and girls with equal access to education, health services, decent work, and representation in decision-making processes can fuel sustainable economies and benefit families, and communities at large. Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but also a foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable country. Any small improvement towards gender equality can bring big changes in the mindset of and benefit the whole society.

 

[1] All figures are taken from the Afghanistan Living Conditions Survey 2016 – 2017 (ALCS), released May 7, 2018. Central Statistics Organization (CSO) of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. http://cso.gov.af/Content/files/Surveys/ALCS/Final%20English%20ALCS%20Highlight(1).pdf

[2] The percentage of women working in managerial job position is still only 6.6 percent of that of men (ALCS, 2018).