UNICEF pledges to demobilize 5,000 child soldiers in Afghanistan

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the UN mission to Afghanistan have set a target of demobilizing 5,000 child soldiers this year as part of their joint campaign to reintegrate war-affected youngsters in the country.

The demobilization scheme began last month in the northeast, where local committees that will help in the process formed in the Badakhshan, Baghlan, Bamiyan, Kunduz and Takhar provinces.

At a press briefing in Kabul today, a spokesman for the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said demobilization and reintegration committees would be set up in the country's eastern provinces by the end of this month.

The spokesman said that in Kunduz province 90 per cent of the child soldiers have already been identified and registered for the programme.

The campaign by UNICEF and UNAMA - with the support of several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) - is designed to help up to 10,000 children affected by armed conflict in Afghanistan. It is focused in the north, northeast, central and eastern regions of the country and includes not only child soldiers, but street children, returnees and those children who are working or who are out of school.

In a separate development, UNICEF officials said next week's opening of a salt iodation plant in Sheberghan, in Afghanistan's north, should reduce the incidence of iodine deficiency disorders in the region. These disorders include still births, goitre, cretinism and severe hearing problems.

Meanwhile, the cantonment of heavy weapons began today in Kabul. The process of cantonment, or effective disarmament, was enshrined in the 2001 UN-brokered Bonn agreement, which paved the way for Afghanistan's political transition.