UNICEF report says time is running out on Afghanistan children

GENEVA / KABUL, 25 October 2007 – UNICEF today launched Child Alert Afghanistan, saying that progress in health and education are endangered by recent surges in violence. --- “Six years after the fall of the Taliban, this should be a time of brightness for Afghans, but instead they are entering into some kind of darkness,” said Bell, who made his second trip to the country for this report. “Despite a multitude of plans and proposals, projects and partners, and the support of many countries working to bring peace and progress to Afghanistan, I have witnessed a spike in insecurity that is causing more and more schools to close and more and more children to be killed. Families, especially in the South, are caught in the middle of this crossfire, out of reach of humanitarian assistance. Simply put, it is make or break time for Afghanistan’s children.”