Government Policies and Programs to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor
The Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan (TISA) has undertaken steps to rebuild the country’s education system and address child soldiering, particularly within the context of the reconstruction of Afghanistan initiated in 2002.[42] In 2000, with technical assistance from the Central Statistics Office of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, UNICEF conducted a Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey on the situation of children in East Afghanistan, of which child labor and education were essential components.[43] Following the war in Afghanistan, the ILO re-opened its former office in Kabul in 2002 and has dedicated over USD 1.2 million in capacity building efforts, particularly for the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.[44] ILO-IPEC has also assisted the government in the preparation of educational materials in Pashto.[45] TISA is implementing a USD 15 million World Bank project that, among other activities, aims to promote learning and skills development among disadvantaged girls and former combatants.[46] In April 2003, the government established a commission to combat human trafficking and to recommend strategies for prevention and protection.[47]
The Japanese government funded a USD 4 million project to provide literacy and vocational training to street children and former child combatants.[48] In addition, USAID has supported IOM’s Afghan Transition Initiative with funding of USD 2.3 million. The initiative supports a number of projects including capacity building of government ministries in the education sector and a project designed to rehabilitate former combatants.[49] USDOL funded a USD 3 million, 4-year project with UNICEF to rehabilitate former child soldiers in 2003. The project will provide psychosocial, rehabilitative, and non-formal education services for up to 10,000 children.[50] In August 2003, IOM launched a USD 330,500 anti-trafficking project aimed to increase the capacity of the Afghan government to effectively address trafficking in the country through technical assistance and awareness-raising activities.[51]
UNICEF, USAID, and other bilateral donors are sponsoring the Back-to-School Program, which provides training and materials to primary and secondary schools.[52] Although 3.2 million children attended school in 2002, the demand far outweighed the program’s capacity. UNICEF has provided logistical support to improve the Ministry of Education’s capacity to distribute materials for 2003. Moreover, UNICEF has provided 4 million primary school aged children with 9.9 million textbooks and other essential school materials in 2003.[53] In collaboration with the Government of Germany and the Afghan government, UNESCO financed a project to upgrade textbooks and the curriculum for some 3 million children in 2002.[54] The ADB and the Islamic Development Bank are funding the construction of new schools as well as the repair of existing schools.[55] UNICEF and the United Nations Office of Project Services are also collaborating on a USD 8.4 million project for school rehabilitation and construction, with a special focus on regions of high refugee return such as Mazar-i-Sharif, Jalalabad, and Kandahar.[56]
UNESCO is supporting the Ministry of Education through three projects totaling approximately USD 17 million. These projects focus on strengthening the capacity of the national system of education, technical and vocational education, and non-formal education.[57] The Japanese government provided an initial USD 500,000 to UNESCO and the Afghan government to launch the Literacy and Non-formal Education Development in Afghanistan project in 2003. This project will focus on promoting literacy for girls and women.[58] In an effort to promote girls’ education, UNICEF is repairing some 200 damaged school buildings.[59] BRAC, formerly known as the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, implemented a UNICEF-funded, 3-month Winter Break program to provide accelerated basic math and Dari (language) classes to approximately 15,000 girls in Kabul.[60]
Incidence and Nature of Child Labor
In 2001, the ILO estimated that 24 percent of children ages 10 to 14 years in Afghanistan were working.[61] Child workers are reported to be numerous in agriculture and the informal sector, including animal herding, collecting paper and firewood, shining shoes, begging, or rummaging for scrap metal in the streets.[62] Throughout the years of conflict leading up to the fall of the Taliban in 2001, Afghan children were used as combatants by both the Taliban and the Northern Alliance to clean and store weapons, guard compounds, and enforce Shariah (Islamic law) under the Taliban. In addition, children cooked, did laundry, and cleaned barracks. It is reported that some children were sexually abused by their commanders under the Taliban.[63] While the Afghan National Army has set the limit for recruitment at 22 years of age,[64] evidence suggests that insurgent groups continue to exploit child soldiers in attacks against government and coalition forces.[65] Afghanistan is believed to be a country of origin and transit for children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and labor.[66] Under Taliban rule, the trafficking of children was common, particularly to the Gulf States.[67] Since the Interim Authority came to power, reports of child trafficking within Afghanistan and externally to Pakistan and the Middle East for the purposes of bonded labor and sexual exploitation have persisted.[68] Since early 2003, reports have indicated a series of abductions of children as young as four years old in northern Afghanistan, for the apparent purpose of trafficking to neighboring countries.[69] It is also reported that impoverished Afghan families have sold their children into forced sexual exploitation, marriage, and labor.[70]
While the new Constitution provides for state-sponsored education for children,[71] war and political turmoil over the past several decades in Afghanistan have seriously hampered educational development.[72] In 2001, the gross primary enrollment rate was 15 percent, down from 32 percent in 1999. [73] In 2000, the gross primary enrollment rate for girls was under one percent, compared to 28.7 percent for boys.[74] The educational system was effectively dismantled under the Taliban. Most male students were enrolled in religious schools, if at all, and schools for women were closed or destroyed by order of the Taliban regime.[75] After the Afghan Interim Authority was inaugurated in December 2001, government schools re-opened their doors to girls and female teachers.[76] According to UNICEF, more than 3.8 million children were enrolled in school in 2003 and girls’ enrollment from ages 7 to 13 increased from 30 percent in 2002 to 37 percent in 2003.[77] UNICEF and the Afghan Ministry of Education have set a goal to increase girls’ enrollment by a further 500,000 by March 2005.[78] In some regions, the participation rate of girls is as low as three percent.[79] Access to education is exacerbated by a resurgence in fundamentalist attacks on schools, teachers, and students. From August 2002 to September 2003, there have been more than 35 attacks in which schools have been burned or bombed.[80] Refugee children who have returned from neighboring countries, particularly Iran and Pakistan, are reported to have very limited access to education, often because their labor is needed to supplement the meager incomes of their families.[81] Attendance rates are unavailable for Afghanistan. While enrollment rates indicate a level of commitment to education, they do not always reflect children’s participation in school.[82]
Child Labor Laws and Enforcement
The Labor Code sets the minimum age for employment at 15 years.[83] The Constitution prohibits forced labor, and specifically prohibits forced labor for children.[84] However, in 2002 there was no evidence that child labor laws were enforced in the country.[85] The interim government has condemned trafficking, and the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission has provided redress for some victims, but there is generally no legal protection provided to victims of trafficking.[86] The Government of Afghanistan has not ratified either ILO Convention 138 or ILO Convention 182.[87]
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