Life stages in Afghanistan

Children under 18 are protected by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, but age rules and enforcement differ by legal matter. Birth registration through the Population Registration Department, also called the Civil Registration Authority or Vital Statistics system, helps verify age and access to school, protection, formal services and later work; the 2022–23 MICS found that 58% of children under five lacked a birth certificate. Obtaining a Tazkira or e-Tazkira can involve local certification, photographs, biometric registration and documentation from a male relative, with procedures varying by location and family circumstances. Formal primary education remains the main education pathway for children. Girls have been excluded from secondary education since 2022 and from tertiary education under later restrictions; UNICEF reported in 2025 that 2.2 million girls were excluded from schooling beyond primary level. Community-based education, accelerated classes and other non-formal programmes can provide learning alternatives, but they do not automatically provide the same progression or recognition as formal schooling. Distance, poverty, insecurity, displacement, disability, missing documents and the shortage of female teachers can limit access. Adolescence is commonly treated as roughly ages 10 to 19 in United Nations programmes, but Afghanistan has no single verified legal youth band covering every sector. Young people often move between education, skills training, informal work, marriage, parenthood and migration without a predictable formal pathway. Girls face restrictions affecting education, work, mobility and public participation; boys face heightened risks linked to child labour, migration, recruitment and protection. Youth programmes, community initiatives and services such as the UNFPA Youth Health Line are project-based, so availability must be checked locally. Adulthood is largely organised around informal work, household responsibilities and family support. Access to livelihoods depends on poverty, gender, location, documentation, security and whether someone has returned from displacement. Vocational training, home-based work and community livelihoods can serve as functional alternatives, but their scale and recognition are limited. Women’s restrictions on education, employment and public participation sharply reduce many available transitions. Marriage, pregnancy and parenthood can change housing, income, mobility and access to services. The 2022–23 MICS reported that 38.9% of women aged 20 to 49 had first married before age 18, with substantial provincial variation. Poverty, school exclusion and displacement can increase the risk of child or forced marriage. Nikah or nekah, family elders, religious figures and customary processes may arrange or support marriage informally, while registration, consent and protection consequences vary; no universal claim about recognition or enforcement applies across Afghanistan. Older people usually depend on family, kin, neighbours and community support. Afghanistan has no evidenced nationwide universal old-age pension or accessible graded long-term-care system. Legacy civil-servant and security pension schemes covered only a limited part of the workforce, and payment or reform arrangements after 2021 remain uncertain. Humanitarian cash, food or shelter assistance can help with vulnerability but is not the same as a regular pension. Care dependency is generally managed within households, often by female relatives, with community volunteers and disability-inclusive humanitarian or NGO services available only in some places. Disability can affect every age and transition. Transport, inaccessible facilities, stigma, communication barriers, costs, missing documentation and gender restrictions can prevent access to education, work, care and protection. Afghanistan has no nationally uniform benefit or care guarantee evidenced in the available research, so reasonable accommodation and local services require case-by-case verification. Displacement, return, drought, earthquakes, conflict-related insecurity, poverty and food or income shocks can interrupt education, employment, marriage timing, caregiving and family cohesion. UNHCR reported about 2.9 million returns in 2025, including forced returns. Returnee children and young people may lack documents, shelter, school access, livelihoods or local networks. Practical support may involve family tracing and reunification, protection referrals, shelter, education continuity, civil documentation and livelihood assistance through the Department of Refugees and Repatriation, UN agencies or accredited NGOs. Access is programme-, funding- and district-dependent, and local elders, shuras and religious leaders may help with access or support without providing the same rights or legal force as formal protection or justice systems.