Access to education for children in conflict zones

Dear donor, Happy New Year!

Although a little late, we at Visions for Children wish you a happy new year full of hope, confidence and drive. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you so much for your support and commitment so far! We really do appreciate it and we have big plans for 2024 together: Supporting children in war and crisis zones, achieving greater educational equality, creating access to water, strengthening local communities and much more.

In this report, we want to give you a brief recap of what happened last year and on the progresses made in our (educational) projects. But read for yourself!

Afghanistan

The devastating earthquakes in Afghanistan in October destroyed over 10,000 homes - thousands of families in the affected region are currently living in tents or temporary shelters. Thanks to your generous donations, we will be able to build new homes for 58 families in Herat over the next few months! To this end, we are working with the local partner organization OHW (Organization for Human Welfare), which has been active in Afghanistan since 2007 and implements projects that support particularly vulnerable groups and people in need.

What has happened so far?

Our partners are currently identifying the families and people in the village where the construction will take place who are most in need of support - including women-headed households, people with disabilities and people with injuries - and are evaluating the construction options on site. Meetings are being held with the village communities to ensure that exactly the kind of support that the survivors want and need is provided.

We will of course keep you informed about the next steps and the construction. Once again, a big thank you to everyone whose donations are helping to provide safe homes for around 300 people in Herat!

Distribution of winter emergency aid

Thanks to your support for the winter emergency aid, we were able to reach 218 displaced families from Pakistan with food parcels, making their return to Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan, during the cold winter months more bearable.

The food packages distributed by our Afghan partner organization OASE contain 50kg of flour, 24kg of rice, 10kg of beans, 5kg of pasta, 2kg of tomato paste, 1kg of tea, 7kg of sugar and 10l of oil. Each package supplies a family of five for around two months, meaning that 218 families, or around 1,090 people, will now be able to get through the next few weeks more safely. A thousand thanks to every single donation that has made this vital distribution possible!

Education projects

Despite the cold onset of winter, great progress has been made at the project schools:

• Block Haye Hawayee: News from the Block Haye Hawayee school: Around 76% of the project has already been completed!
  
  
• Qala-e-Jangi Girls' School: The construction work at the secondary school in Mazar-e-Sharif has made further progress in recent weeks. This included work on the roof, the asphalting of paths on the school grounds and the plastering of the exterior facade.

Uganda

Start of a new education project in Uganda! A total of 1,021 pupils are currently registered at Okune Primary School in the Otuke district of northern Uganda, most of whom come from economically disadvantaged families. Access to education is particularly important for them to lead a self-determined life. However, the lack of space, the high noise level and the lack of hygiene standards at the school are detrimental to concentration and even encourage school drop-outs.

The aim of the project: Together with our local partner organization LTP (Link to Progress), we are expanding the school building, improving menstrual hygiene standards and holding workshops on mental health for pupils, their parents and teachers.

As you can see, we have achieved a lot together in 2023. As a donor you have:

• Co-financed 6 school projects,
• provided 19,307 children with access to education
• made 655k liters of clean drinking water accessible
• supported 284 teachers.

Every donation helps us to implement our work in a sustainable, long-term and predictable way. So a big thank you to all of you! Since there is still a lot to do, we are still dependent on your help: So please tell your friends and family about our work at the Qala-e-Jangi girls' school and the general educational situation of children and young people in Afghanistan. Together we can make a difference!

All the best,

Celine from Visions for Children

Links:

• Website Visions for Children
• Instagram Visions for Children

Dear Donor,

on August 15th, it was exactly two years ago that the Taliban captured Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, within a few hours. The dramatic pictures and reports of people desperately trying to leave the country went around the world. Since then, there has been silence. What became of Afghanistan and all those who stayed behind?

The country is experiencing the most dangerous humanitarian crisis in the world, with millions suffering from hunger and in need of assistance, girls and women deprived of their rights, and local people still hoping in vain for protection and evacuation. In this report, we'd like to bring you up to date on the situation two years after the takeover and offer insights into how our work on the ground is continuing.

Afghanistan under the Taliban

The scenes from the airport in Kabul, which happened after August 15, 2021, are probably still present to us all in their horror. It was a disaster that was predictable: only a few days after the withdrawal of international troops, the Taliban had already captured the first rural areas and border crossings. In the weeks and months that followed, they advanced further and further until they finally stood at the gates of Kabul on Aug. 15.

Since then, Afghanistan has experienced the most devastating crisis in its history. More than 29 million people in the country rely on humanitarian assistance to survive. Over half of them are children. More than 3.25 million people are on the run within the country: fleeing natural disasters, conflicts or in search of work. Many of them live in camps for internally displaced persons under catastrophic conditions.

To survive, more and more families are forced to send their children to work. Instead of going to school, some 1.6 million children perform work under the most dangerous conditions - and for a pittance.

Women and girls are deprived of their rights

After the Taliban took power in August 2021, the human rights situation for women and girls in Afghanistan deteriorated significantly - despite initial promises to respect their rights. Instead, they are banished from public life. Their rights to learn, work and move freely are massively restricted. They are only allowed to travel or go to the doctor with a male escort. Visiting parks or playing sports is forbidden for them.

The situation of women and girls in Afghanistan is deteriorating rapidly and the denial of their basic rights is unacceptable. Therefore, we must not stop putting pressure on the de-facto government and standing up for their rights!

Education situation and our work on the ground

Afghanistan is the only country in the world where girls are forbidden to attend secondary schools. Without education, young women have hardly any chance to pursue a qualified job, especially since they are excluded from most professions in the meantime anyway. As a result, the risk of forced and child marriage, child labor, violence and abuse increases dramatically.

Despite completing primary school, the majority of students cannot read or write a simple sentence. This is due to the fatal conditions that prevail in many schools in Afghanistan, making concentrated learning simply impossible. It is therefore all the more important to create a suitable learning environment - especially in elementary school, which girls are still allowed to attend.

Education is not a human right for nothing. After all, every completed school year reduces financial poverty by 12%! That is why we continue to do everything in our power to give children, and especially girls, the chance of a self-determined future through our education projects. For a world in which every child can read and write.  

What you can do

• Inform yourself and others about the situation in Afghanistan: Listen to Afghans who, against all odds, continue to speak out, protest in the country, or show solidarity from abroad.
  
  
• Demand political support: Go protest and sign petitions.
  
  
• Continue to support our work: Thank you so much for your support! This is how we can continue to successfully implement our work in Afghanistan.

We wish you only the best and hope that together we can remain loud and strong for the people of Afghanistan!

Kind regards,

Celine from Visions for Children

Links:

• Website Visions for Children