SUMMARY
Ongoing conflict within Afghanistan has continued to result in widespread displacement, with more than 318,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) recorded in the country since 1 January 2017.1 Moreover, at least 260,000 Afghans have been forced from their homes in neighbouring countries, often returning to vulnerable living conditions and poor socio-economic situations within Afghanistan.2 Furthermore, the estimated 220,000 Pakistani refugees residing within Afghanistan are increasingly considered a vulnerable population within humanitarian conversations, further straining available resources.3 The complex pattern of displacement has exacerbated needs and vulnerabilities across all population groups, including child protection concerns for boys and girls. In terms of education, literacy rates and years of education attainment have likely fallen since the start of the emergency.4 Similarly, widespread displacement has arguably had a negative effect on education provision as schools cannot absorb sudden influxes of displaced children, a lack of documentation held by displaced household prevents school enrolment, and displacement drains financial assets, reducing the ability of households to send children to school.5
To test these suppositions and fill the gap of a nationwide education situational overview of displaced populations in Afghanistan, this assessment aimed to outline the education and child protection needs and vulnerabilities among internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnee and refugee populations. The assessment was designed by REACH in close collaboration with the Education in Emergencies Working Group (EiEWG), to build a response analysis framework with which to align indicators in a way that was directly relevant to programming and advocacy by the EiEWG and its partners. All data was collected between 10 August and 14 September 2017. This consisted of 9,435 structured surveys with forcibly displaced households, sampled from village and informal settlement population datasets across all six regions of Afghanistan.8 Findings based on data from the household-level survey are generalisable at the regional-level with a 95% confidence level and 5% margin of error. In addition, 18 focus group discussions (FGDs) with teachers, head-teachers and Parent-Teacher Association members took place across all six regions, to supplement and guide analysis of survey data. By including displaced populations from across all Afghanistan, rather than specifically within informal settlements, the assessment generated findings that could be generalised for displaced populations more broadly, strengthening displacement-focused programming throughout the country. Findings from this assessment were used to inform the 2018 Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO) and Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP), aiming to inform evidence-based planning in the upcoming year.
The assessment found that conflicted-affected, displaced populations display particular and extensive vulnerabilities, with displaced children facing a diverse range of barriers to education and a higher likelihood of early marriage or child labour. Despite these vulnerabilities, sufficient services and facilities are not available in Afghanistan to provide appropriate psychosocial support required by conflict- and natural disaster-affected children to mitigate immediate and long-term negative consequences of displacement. Furthermore, this assessment has highlighted the additional vulnerabilities of displaced girls in Afghanistan, as they are less likely to enrol in school nor partake in recreational activities, compared to boys.
The key findings of the assessment were as follows:
Demographics and Displacement
• Displaced populations were found to be equally male (49%) and female (51%); however, the proportion of school-aged boys was found to be higher than girls with a ratio of 113 boys for every 100 girls.
• The complex and protracted conflict in Afghanistan has resulted in most displaced populations being either recent or prolonged IDPs (32% respectively), followed by 17% of protracted IDPs, 14% returnees and 5% refugees, with the highest proportion of recent IDPs (52%) found in the South region.
• Most displaced households were found to be dependent on unreliable and unsustainable income sources, with 47% of households reliant on unskilled daily labour and 18% on skilled daily labour, generating an average household income of 9,994 AFN9 per month. The majority of household monthly spending was found to be on essentials such as food (47%) and rent (13%), while education expenditures comprised only 4% of overall spending.
• The highest proportion of displaced households reportedly intended to locally integrate over the year following data collection (47%), highlighting a need for social integration programs in Afghanistan to facilitate employment opportunities among displaced populations. However, an additional 28% of households reportedly intended to return to their area of origin over the 12 months following data collection, thus indicating potential further displacement.
Provision of Education and Facilities in Schools
• It was found that school availability was not a significant concern, as nearly all households (98%) noted a government school within walking distance of their shelter, followed by a high proportion of households noting a Madrasa within walking distance (64%).
• Discussions with teachers highlighted that schools tend to remain open, even after physical infrastructure damage associated with conflict, with damaged schools typically using tarpaulin shelters to continue providing education. Most temporary school closures came following interference by Non-State Armed Groups (NSAG) and were resolved after a short period of discussions and negotiations with the NSAG directly.
• The lower proportion of female teachers compared to male, and the iterative consequences this has on reducing female education was found to be a key issue, reinforcing gender inequality within education provision.
• WASH facilities in schools were lacking, with 63% of households reporting no hand-washing facilities in schools attended by their children, 54% reporting no gendered facilities in schools and 22% noting no drinking water in schools, posing health and protection concerns to children. In addition, 4% of households indicated no WASH service availability at all in the schools attended by their children.
• Most households noted no provision of free food in schools (97%), with children dependent on snacks brought from home, while 93% of households indicated that schools provided no medical assistance to students.
Education Attendance and Enrolment
• School enrolment was found to be a concern in Afghanistan, with 23% of all displaced children not enrolled in school at the time of data collection.
• However, this assessment found that the proportion of boys and girls not enrolled in school fell following conflict-induced displacement, from 37% to 17% for boys, and from 51% to 28% for girls. Additional qualitative findings indicated that this rise in enrolment at the time of data collection, compared to before displacement, can be attributed to households moving to safer areas, with more schools located closer to the home and a perceived higher quality of education in these locations; thus households are reportedly more inclined to enrol children in school.
• Poor school attendance was found to be particularly prevalent among displaced girls, with 16% of households sending no girls to school compared to 9% of households sending no boys.
• Among households that do send children to school, regular attendance is not guaranteed, with 36% of girls and 22% of boys attending less than two days per week, on average.
• Violence and insecurity were found to be the most significant barriers to education for displaced girls (24% of households) while long distance to schools was considered the main barrier for displaced boys (24% of households). This reflects the protection-based challenges faced by girls in attending school, compared to boys.
• Economic wellbeing of displaced households was found to relate to school enrolment. For instance, a lower income earned by a household denoted a lower enrolment rate of boys and girls in the household; thus a poor economic situation at the household-level likely has negative implications for children’s school attendance, also emphasising the financial barriers to education in Afghanistan.
Child Protection
• Psychosocial support and wellbeing services10 were reportedly absent from schools, with 96% of households reporting no available services in schools, while nearly all households (93%) felt the provision of these services should be improved in schools.
• FGDs found that teachers were a crucial support network for children, encouraging play, engaging in activities and generating an approachable environment for children to freely discuss concerns.
• Cultural concerns, such as social integration problems and cultural restrictions, were the main concern reported for girls (21% of households), while 16% of households reported a fear of violence as the main concern for boys.
• Early marriage and child labour were coping strategies found to be used by displaced populations, especially in the South region and amongst refugee households. Overall, 15% of school-aged children were reportedly earning an income outside of the home. In addition, 4% of displaced children were found to be married. Boys were significantly more likely to engage in child labour (17%) than girls (12%), with the proportion of working boys rising to 32% in the South and to 29% amongst refugee households. Whilst the proportion of girls earning an income was lower overall than that of boys, it also rose in the South (33%) and among refugee households (32%), indicating significant vulnerabilities.
• In terms of early marriage, girls were found to be more vulnerable, with 6% reportedly married compared to 2% of boys. However, the West region exhibited the greatest protection concerns with regard to early marriage for girls, with 13% of girls found to be in early marriages compared to 3% for boys.
1 Humanitarian Response, “Afghanistan: Internal Displacement due to Conflict”, September 2017.
2 Ibid.
3 NRC, “Global Report on Internal Displacement”, 2017.
4 UNHCR, “Research Study on IDPs in Urban Settings – Afghanistan”, May 2011.
5 NRC, “Broken Promises, Displaced Afghan Girls”, February 2017.
8 The sampling frame was based on data from REACH, UNHCR and IOM DTM.
9 1 EUR = 80 AFN on 24/10/2017 (CoinMill.com).
10 With psychosocial support and wellbeing services referring to social workers, support groups or counsellors, specifically supporting the negative consequences of displacement faced by children in Afghanistan.