† Determined by national law or regulation as hazardous and, as such, relevant to Article 3(d) of ILO C. 182.
‡ Child labor understood as the worst forms of child labor per se under Article 3(a)–(c) of ILO C. 182.

Reports indicate that the Taliban demonstrated complicity in the forced recruitment of children for use in armed conflict in 2024. The Taliban typically recruit boys between the ages of 14 and 17, and 97 percent of these recruits become part of the Taliban’s security forces. Some children were coerced or recruited under false promises or fraudulent circumstances. The Taliban do not have a formalized age verification mechanism to ensure that children are not being recruited into their security forces. According to local media sources, in 2024, the Taliban recruited approximately 30 children between 10 and 18 years old in Badakhshan province and provided them with military training in a specialized military training center, including 1 case of forced recruitment.

Children at Higher Risk

Boys in Afghanistan continue to be subjected to commercial sexual exploitation through the practice of bacha bazi, which typically entails keeping a boy for the purpose of sexual gratification. Some boys are sold into the practice by their families. Children subjected to bacha bazi often become further victimized by the threat of violence when returning to their families, necessitating the placement of these child victims in rehabilitation centers; however, research was unable to determine whether sufficient rehabilitation centers existed in Afghanistan to meet this need. The practice of bacha bazi has reportedly continued among influential local leaders, Taliban leaders, and military commanders. High ongoing levels of displacement driven by conflict, extreme weather, economic stressors, and the forced return of Afghan refugees from Pakistan increase the risk of sexual violence against women and girls. Additionally, some girls who are sold into marriage with adult men in order for the girls’ families to obtain dowries end up in commercial sexual exploitation. Children of Afghan families returning from abroad are highly vulnerable to exploitation due to extreme economic hardship, lack of identification papers, and difficulties enrolling in school.

Barriers to Education Access

Children in Afghanistan face significant barriers to education due to poverty and Taliban restrictions on women and girls’ roles in society. Since September 2021, the Taliban have prohibited Afghan girls from attending public secondary school; since December 2022, from attending university; and since December 2024, from receiving medical training, removing the last remaining opportunity for women to pursue higher education. Access to education is further hampered by a lack of identity documents, which particularly affects girls and Afghan children returning from neighboring countries with their families. Since the Taliban banned women from teaching boys, schools face significant difficulties hiring teachers, resorting to hiring men with only high school diplomas or with no formal educational credentials; some teaching positions remain unfilled, leaving children with no instructor at all. The Taliban are also forcing families in some communities to send their children to religious schools created by the Taliban instead of to secular ones. Some teachers speak only Pashto, leaving Dari-speaking children unable to understand lessons. In addition, some Afghan children returning to Afghanistan after having lived abroad do not speak either language, for which there is no accommodation. The practice of teachers and school principals administering corporal punishment discourages children from attending school. Furthermore, the cost of school supplies, textbooks, and transportation prevent some Afghan children from attending school.

* Country has no conscription  
‡ Age calculated based on available information

The Taliban have not made a clear pronouncement on whether they are following modified versions of either Afghanistan’s 1964 or 2004 constitution, or whether they plan to produce a new constitution, making it unclear the degree to which they view relevant protections in the 1964 and 2004 constitutions as remaining in effect. Simultaneously, the Taliban have conveyed that the laws that predate the Taliban takeover of August 2021 remain in effect unless they violate the Taliban interpretation of sharia, as determined by Taliban religious leaders or Taliban-led courts. Reporting indicates that the Taliban have verbally announced the abolition of Chapters 10 and 11 of the Penal Code, which deal with child trafficking crimes and the recruitment and use of children by armed groups, and have further instructed lawyers not to cite the Penal Code in court.

The Republic-era legal framework had several deficiencies with regards to international standards. The Afghan Labor Law’s minimum age provision prohibits those under the age of 19 from being “recruited as a worker.” However, the law defines “worker” as a person who is “recruited based on a definite contract,” meaning that the minimum age provision does not apply to those in informal employment. Afghan law does not sufficiently criminalize practices similar to slavery, including debt bondage. The Penal Code criminalizes the use of male children in bacha bazi, criminalizes forcing children to dance, and criminalizes the forced use of girls in prostitution. However, the legal framework does not criminalize the use of boys or non-forced use of girls in prostitution. Additionally, children in Afghanistan are required to attend school only up to age 15. This standard makes children ages 15 to 17 vulnerable to child labor, as they are not required to attend school but are not legally permitted to work.

It is unknown how many labor inspectors conducted worksite inspections, or whether child labor violations were found. It is unknown whether investigations into suspected cases of the worst forms of child labor were conducted, prosecutions were initiated, or perpetrators were convicted.

‡ Program funded by the Government of Afghanistan prior to the Taliban takeover.

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