 | | A VOICE AND INFORMATION
"Education must be free for poor children"
Wali is 12. He is one of the thousands of Afghan refugees living in the border areas of Pakistan.
The 11 September terror attacks on the United States and the US-led war on Afghanistan, which began in October 2001,intensified a humanitarian crisis caused by years of drought, famine and intolerance.
The Afghan people are the largest group of dispossessed people in the world - recent figures suggest there are as many as 3.7 million around the globe.
In the wake of the tragic events of September, the United Nations refugee agency (UNCHR) estimates some 135,000 Afghans have fled into Pakistan.
Like many of the refugees, Wali is aware of events going on in his home country. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child says that children have a right to voice their views about issues which concern them.
Article 12 guarantees a "... child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child..."
In this report for A World for Children, Wali exercises that right, but his comments show how far there is to go in achieving many basic rights, such as security and education, for children in the region.
Wali talks about the bombing campaign and expresses a desire to see peace reign in Afghanistan, an issue which is currently being discussed by members of the United Nations Security Council who are interested in setting up a broad-based multi-ethnic government in Afghanistan.
When Wali was interviewed, events in Afghanistan were moving very quickly, with the ruling Taleban increasingly losing territory and retreating further into the south.
Although the Taleban continue to refuse to hand over Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden, accused by the US of masterminding the attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Centre, and the war continues, Wali conveys real hope for the future.
This is Wali's report: | |  Listen to Wali's story in Farsi | | 
My name is Wali and I'm studying at a refugee school in Peshawar, in Pakistan.
The Americans said that they would bomb only army targets, but they have bombed villages and other places, like hospitals. I know that they have attacked three hospitals so it may be that they have hit schools as well.
The Americans should take care not to bomb children in Afghanistan.
In other countries people love their children because they are the future of society. If they love their children they also ought to love the children of other countries. These children have a future, too.
I was lucky enough to go to Italy for 24 days, at the time of the Pavarotti concert, and I visited students and schools there. It nearly made me cry to see the good schools and the curriculum there because we have nothing like that in our country.
There were schools open in Afghanistan under Taleban control, but I heard that they used the Arabic language and taught the Taleban's own sort of Islam. Anyway, they didn't have enough teachers.
The Americans say that they want to establish a proper government in Afghanistan.
If they achieve that, it is important that they are careful to do what is necessary for the country. We need good schools and a good curriculum, but we also need radio and television, which are important for the education of children. And, of course, we need hospitals.
The schools should be established to match our needs, so, for example, education must be free for poor children who cannot afford to pay fees. Some people are in a good position and can afford to spend money on school, but we see here very poor refugees in some of the camps in Pakistan, like Nasir Bagh and Jalousai.
I know this because my mother works for a women's organisation and she meets some people in very desperate circumstances.
Fighting is something which comes from people being disunited, but I hope to see in Afghanistan things that everyone agrees about, like peace and schools.  | | | Listen to Wali's story in Farsi | | |  |  |
 Despite the rapid changes in Afghanistan, thousands of refugees continue to stream into Pakistan every day.
The UNHCR says it expects more, particularly from the south and east of Afghanistan. Few refugees are likely to go home as it is winter and they won't be able to start farming until next year.
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