GENEVA (SW): The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Pakistan and Iran have agreed to declare a full day to discuss to state of Afghan refugees at the forth coming UNHCR’s annual Executive Committee (ExCom) meeting in Geneva.
This was decided in a four-party (UNHCR, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran) meeting held in Geneva, the Ministry of Refugee and Repatriate Affairs said. The gathering was aimed at formulating a strategy for the annual ExCom meeting 5-9 October in regard to the prevailing refugee crisis.
The second day, October 6 has been dedicated to the Afghan refugees.
Afghan refugees are one of the largest and longest displaced populations in the world. Four decades of recurrent conflict has led to the education of successive generations of Afghan refugee children being disrupted, discontinued or forgotten, due to a range of barriers that are largely outside their control.
Today an estimated 2.6 million Afghans remain in exile – mainly hosted by Pakistan and Iran.
The Afghan refugee population in both Pakistan and Iran is young, with second and third generations of children having been born into displacement. Children below the age of 14 account for half of the 2.45 million Afghan refugees in both Pakistan and Iran, while youth (aged 15–24) also make up a significant proportion of the population.
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