[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 96 (Tuesday, July 16, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1266]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               AFGHANISTAN'S FUTURE IN ITS YOUTH'S HANDS

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                        HON. MICHAEL E. CAPUANO

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 16, 2002

  Mr. CAPUANO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to inform my colleagues of the 
remarkable courage the children of Afghanistan have shown by returning 
to their classrooms this year in record numbers, despite the ongoing 
violence that has torn the country apart. The U.N. International 
Children's Emergency Fund, UNICEF, announced last week that over 5 
million Afghani children, both boys and girls, have returned to school 
since the beginning of this year. This far exceeds the previously 
expected number of 1.78 million children. To the innocent people of 
Afghanistan who have long suffered from the great injustice, torture 
and oppression of the Taliban dictatorship, their children are a bright 
beacon of freedom and hope that a better future lies ahead.
  I believe it is incumbent upon us to provide UNICEF with the 
necessary funds to continue rebuilding Afghanistan's schools, hire more 
teachers and provide more books so they can live and learn like our 
children here in the United States. It is imperative that we keep the 
hopes of the Afghani people alive by assisting UNICEF's efforts to 
provide these children with proper food, shelter and clothing. We can 
help them grow up in happiness and in a safe environment in a country 
that has known neither in many years.
  UNICEF's program in Afghanistan this year has been recorded as its 
largest educational development effort since its inception. However, 
the organization estimates that it will still need an additional $57 
million this year to support the newly crated education ministry, 
teacher training and recruitment, the development of curricula and 
textbooks for primary, secondary and higher education as well as a 
system of community radio programs to provide basic education to 
remote, underserved areas of Afghanistan.
  Educating Afghani children is essential to the future stability of 
Afghanistan. With our help, UNICEF has taken on the enormous task of 
creating an educational system from scratch and has made remarkable 
progress so far. We must renew our commitment to the citizen of 
Afghanistan by investing more in UNICEF's efforts on behalf of the 
citizens of Afghanistan.

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