HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

49

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2002

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

  
   

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

requesting humanitarian aid addressing the health, welfare, and education of afghan children.

 

WHEREAS, children are often the innocent and unintended victims of conflict and warfare; and

WHEREAS, many children and youths in Afghanistan were killed, maimed, or injured as a result of the ongoing conflicts between different forces both within and outside the borders of Afghanistan; and

WHEREAS, the health, safety, and education of Afghan children, especially females, suffered under the Taliban regime; and

WHEREAS, on September 27, 1996, the Taliban, an extremist militia, seized control of the capital of Afghanistan, Kabul, and plunged Afghanistan into a brutal state of gender apartheid in which women and girls were stripped of their basic human rights; and

WHEREAS, the Taliban banished women from the work force, leading to poverty and starvation for many women and children who were suddenly stripped of their ability to earn an income; and

WHEREAS, the Taliban closed schools to girls in cities, expelled women from universities, and denied females access to health care, resulting in deaths from treatable medical conditions; and

WHEREAS, the ousting of the Taliban has allowed citizens of Afghanistan to begin to reclaim their basic civil rights; and

WHEREAS, the health, education, and welfare of Afghan children is essential for rebuilding a stable, peaceful, democratic Afghanistan, to assure a brighter economic future and self-sustenance, and to re-establish a constitutional democracy in Afghanistan that is representative of women and ethnic minorities; and

WHEREAS, the United Nations is supporting Afghanistan in regaining its government and looking after the welfare and security of Afghan citizens; and

WHEREAS, most Americans, including the President of the United States, believe that the health, safety, and welfare of Afghan children are important to the future of a peaceful and productive nation, and have reinforced that belief by asking the children of the United States to contribute to that effort through their schools; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2002, the Senate concurring, that the President of the United States, United States Congress, Secretary General of the United Nations, national and international organizations, and agencies that provide humanitarian aid to foreign countries, are requested to focus their efforts to provide relief and assistance that target the health, education, and welfare of the children in Afghanistan; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Keiki Caucus of the Hawaii State Legislature is requested to initiate and coordinate a drive to collect donations from Hawaii's children through the schools to provide a financial gift of aloha with the hope for a brighter future for the children of Afghanistan; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, Secretary of State, President of the United States Senate, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Hawaii's Congressional Delegation, Secretary General of the United Nations, the American Red Cross, other agencies and organizations that provide humanitarian aid to women and children, and to the Chairpersons of the Keiki Caucus.

Report Title:

Afghan Children