From the frontline: Hangama Anwari

Hangama Anwari is heads the Children's Rights Unit at the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. The mandate for the AIHRC, established in 2002, is to support and facilitate the development of a sustainable independent national capacity for the promotion and protection of human rights in Afghanistan. For more information on the Commission, click here

My role is very varied. We try to influence policy and legislation, and try to establish contacts nationally and internationally to further human rights principles. We also create new programmes, so basically our role is about protecting, promoting and monitoring.

We campaigned on the recent Shite Personal Status Law, which was largely against human rights instruments. It did not define the age permitted for children to marry. It was the first time this kind of issue has resulted in such widespread international criticism, so in many ways that was a positive thing. With this sort of law there are unfortunately political challenges, but we have been lobbying the government and now a review has been ordered. We are hopeful about the outcome of the review, but we will have to see.

The major concern in Afghanistan is that with everything else going on in the country, children's issues are not a priority. Most of the time we have to really push to get them on the agenda.

Unfortunately, the security situation is getting worse, so we are having to work even harder. And a lot of problems for children stem from the security situation.

There is a real lack of understanding about children's rights, and culturally there can be a lot of opposition. People are much more concerned with children's vulnerability, and with having sympathy for children, than with enforcing their rights, for example taking their views into consideration.

There is a lack of professional capacity to support children's rights, both in the government and among NGOs. There are lots of gaps. There are particularly few services to cope with children who have been victims, and there are not enough protections measures while the training is poor.

Afghanistan ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1994, and we are now working on our first initial report, so that shows how little awareness there is and that it is not a major tool. The challenges are with implementation, of course, and the fact that people think it clashes with Islam makes it even more difficult.

With some of the new laws, there is better use of the CRC so that the provisions reflect child rights principles, for example with recent laws on children in conflict with the law. The problem is that the CRC is not a legally enforceable document in Afghanistan – it has to be incorporated in to national legislation.

Its a challenge to work in children's rights, but it is also an obligation. Much needs to be done about all the suffering, and not just among individuals but also organisations and the international community. It is also a privilege to be able to work on these issues. Small changes can make big differences, and we must remember that.

Information is a big problem, and people are just not aware of children's rights and the CRC. It is also a very sensitive subject here.