Stronger Justice for Afghanistan’s Young People

At the centre of the UN and Afghan juvenile justice effort are rehabilitation and diversion programs designed to protect children while strengthening communities. These programs recognise that a child who enters the justice system without support can carry the consequences into adulthood. Diversion can redirect young people towards education, counselling, skills training and restorative pathways, while rehabilitation addresses the experiences that led to offending in the first place.

Afghanistan’s children face overlapping pressures from conflict, displacement, poverty, family separation and disrupted schooling. Some have been charged under a legal framework that does not consistently provide child-friendly procedures, legal representation or timely review of detention. Girls, children with disabilities and those living in remote or conflict-affected areas can encounter additional barriers when seeking protection and justice.

The archived UN70 campaign, Strong UN. Strong Afghanistan., highlighted the knowledge and determination of Afghan individuals working for their communities. The platform itself did not operate courts, diversion schemes or rehabilitation centres; it amplified Afghan voices and demonstrated how progress depends on partnership. Its focus on community leadership is especially relevant to juvenile justice, where imported solutions work best when they are adapted to Afghan institutions and local circumstances.

For Australian readers, the value of this work lies in supporting Afghan-led approaches rather than copying a foreign system. Effective diversion depends on trustworthy institutions, capable practitioners, safe reporting mechanisms and sustained services after a child leaves formal proceedings. It also requires evidence that rehabilitation reduces reoffending and improves wellbeing without weakening accountability for serious harm.

Moving beyond detention as the default

Detention can interrupt education, expose children to further harm and make reintegration more difficult once they return home. In Afghanistan, facilities intended for rehabilitation may lack trained staff, appropriate education, specialist mental health care or space for meaningful family contact. Children held for long periods can emerge with disrupted learning, weakened family relationships and difficulty adjusting to community life.

Diversion offers an alternative when the circumstances and alleged conduct make it appropriate. A case may be referred for assessment and then directed towards a restorative agreement, educational support, vocational training, counselling, community service or structured family support. The aim is to prevent unnecessary escalation while requiring the young person to take responsibility, repair harm where possible and follow through on an agreed plan.

Diversion is not a shortcut for difficult cases or a substitute for fair trials. Safeguards must cover informed consent, legal representation, age verification, privacy, review of decisions and protection against coercion or discrimination. A pathway designed around the child’s best interests should recognise the victim’s experience while recognising the young person’s capacity to change.

Designing diversion around safety and accountability

A sound diversion process begins before a case reaches formal adjudication, when schools, families, health workers, child protection services and community organisations can identify a child at risk of becoming involved in offending. Early support may include resolving family disputes, recovering from trauma, returning to education or finding safe accommodation. Prevention is therefore part of juvenile justice, not a separate activity.

When an incident has occurred, facilitation should bring together the young person, family members and affected people when participation is safe and voluntary. In some Afghan communities, respected elders, religious leaders, women and local civil society organisations can support dialogue that formal institutions cannot easily reach. These contributors should complement rights-based legal processes rather than make decisions that expose participants to retaliation or unfair pressure.

United Nations technical support can help establish referral protocols, train mediators, design age-sensitive assessments and monitor whether children receive fair treatment. Support is most useful when Afghan professionals lead the process and retain control over the resulting arrangements. External partners should provide resources, tools and accountability without creating parallel structures that depend on short-term funding or international case management.

Rehabilitation that reaches the whole child

Rehabilitation is more than keeping a child occupied inside an institution. A credible programme combines education, psychosocial care, vocational preparation, disability support, family engagement and follow-up in the community. Children who have missed years of schooling may need catch-up classes in literacy and numeracy before they can benefit from technical training.

Stable relationships are equally important. A child returning home may need help rebuilding trust, understanding local responsibilities and accessing health care. Some children have lived in institutions or displacement camps for so long that they have little information about their families. Reintegration specialists can trace relatives, prepare communities and accompany the young person through the transition.

Girls and children with disabilities require services designed around specific safety, accessibility and communication needs. Separated, stigmatised or stigmatising language can undermine programmes built on the assumption that every child has the same experience. Confidential case management, accessible facilities and staff trained in trauma-informed practice help ensure that support reaches children who might otherwise remain invisible.

Economic security also shapes rehabilitation. When families lack income, a young person’s participation in training or a diversion programme can create pressure rather than opportunity. The UN’s wider work in Afghanistan illustrates the importance of household resilience, including widows’ economic empowerment, which can reduce vulnerability and strengthen the environment in which children live.

Community justice with Afghan ownership

Afghan communities possess forms of mediation, mutual support and collective responsibility that can assist children outside formal court systems. Village councils, local administrators, families, women’s groups and civil society organisations often understand the pressures affecting children better than a distant institution. Properly supported, they can identify risks early and help families sustain changes made through diversion.

Informal justice also carries risks. Mediators may pressure children to confess, impose outcomes based on gender, ethnicity or disability, or fail to protect complainants. Communities that fear outside authorities may avoid reporting abuse. Any community-based response therefore needs clear boundaries, independent complaint channels, trained facilitators and a means of escalating serious cases to qualified legal and child protection services.

Local ownership means involving Afghan organisations in programme design, staff selection, monitoring and evaluation. International partners can supply flexible funding, technical expertise and connections with Afghan professional networks, yet they should not treat local workers as implementers of externally defined targets. Community members should have a meaningful role in deciding which problems require attention and how success will be measured.

Women’s participation is central to this model. Female mediators, counsellors and legal professionals can provide options unavailable in male-dominated structures and can support girls who need to discuss sensitive experiences safely. Their work should be supported with safeguards against harassment, protection from retaliation and access to supervision and referral services.

A coordinated role for the United Nations

UN entities working in Afghanistan bring different forms of expertise. UNICEF can support child protection, education and reintegration; UNODC can assist justice practitioners and diversion systems; human rights offices can monitor detention and due process; UN Women can strengthen women’s participation; and agencies working with displaced communities can support referral and reintegration. Their value lies in coordination around Afghan priorities rather than separate projects competing for the same limited resources.

Coordination requires reliable information. Managers need to know which children are referred, which programmes are available, whether participation is voluntary and what happens after a case is closed. Shared definitions can prevent agencies from claiming success simply because a child attended a session. Data should also be collected carefully, without publishing information that identifies vulnerable young people or exposes them to stigma.

Operational access, funding constraints and the responsibilities of de facto authorities shape what programmes can be delivered. International agencies must work within clear human rights and safeguarding standards, while recognising Afghan organisations that continue delivering services under difficult conditions. Long-term pooled funding can reduce fragmented short projects and allow Afghan services to recruit qualified staff, retain trained practitioners and respond to seasonal access challenges.

Lessons from Australia’s justice landscape

Australia provides useful examples of how a child can be diverted from formal criminal proceedings without abandoning accountability. In Canberra, the ACT Children’s Court and Youth Justice services use diversion and restorative responses tailored to individual circumstances. The emphasis on the child’s age, maturity, family circumstances and capacity to change reflects language commonly used across Australian youth justice systems.

Melbourne’s Community Justice Boards offer another model, bringing community input into responses to offending while working within formal legal oversight. Their experience shows the value of plain explanations, clear responsibilities and follow-up. It also demonstrates why community participation needs safeguards: a restorative process should not override the rights of victims or excuse unsafe behaviour by a child.

In Sydney, the NSW Children’s Court sits within the Local Court system, while Youth Justice Conferences can support negotiated responses before a case proceeds. In Darwin, Family Group Conferences in the Northern Territory address the additional challenges of travel, remote housing and cultural disconnection across the Top End. These examples show why locally designed pathways matter, although they cannot be transferred to Afghanistan without Afghan leadership and legal alignment.

Australian youth justice services are often commissioned and funded by state and territory governments, with not-for-profit organisations delivering programmes under contracts, grants or service agreements. This market can provide stable employment and recognised standards, but short funding cycles can interrupt continuity of care. Australian partnerships can therefore contribute practitioner expertise, evaluation methods and multi-year financing while leaving programme decisions with Afghan organisations. Supporting Aboriginal community-controlled services in Australia also demonstrates why cultural authority and accountability should sit close to the work.

A shared commitment for Afghan young people

A practical Afghan juvenile justice pathway should connect prevention, diversion, rehabilitation and reintegration. Early support belongs in schools, health services and family networks. Diversion should operate with legal safeguards and defined review points. Rehabilitation should prepare children for education, work and community life, while trained staff should monitor wellbeing and follow up after participation ends.

Progress should be judged through changes in children’s safety, education, family stability and likelihood of reoffending. Communities also need evidence that diversion addresses harm and strengthens trust. Reports should use age-disaggregated data while protecting identities, and Afghan families should help set the indicators that matter to them. This creates a system in which accountability applies to institutions as well as to children.

Explore the Afghan stories preserved through the UN70 campaign, share them with your networks, and contact Australian United Nations offices, youth justice practitioners and ethical funding partners to support Afghan-led rehabilitation and diversion with flexible, long-term assistance.