According to a resolution by the International Labour Organization (ILO), June 12 is marked as the World Day Against Child Labour. The purpose of this day is to end child labor among those who are underage and to implement measures to free children from exploitation in the workforce so they can access their fundamental right to education.
Unfortunately, a host of factors—economic hardship, displacement, lack of access to free and quality education, parental unemployment, cultural attitudes, demand for cheap labor, conflict and internal crises, and either the absence of protective laws or their ineffective enforcement—have contributed to the exploitation of more than 165 million underage children around the world in substandard and internationally prohibited work. (Regrettably, there is no reliable data on the number of underage child laborers in Afghanistan.)
Among these factors, this piece briefly examines the failure to implement legal protections for child laborers in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan has long been a member of the ILO and has ratified most of its conventions, protocols, and resolutions, including those related to child labor. Another key international instrument that prohibits hazardous child labor is the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Afghanistan is also a party. As a member state of the United Nations, Afghanistan is automatically a member of UNICEF as well.
In addition to these international commitments, Afghanistan’s national legal system contains provisions on labor rights that have been part of the country’s legal framework for many years. Drawing from both national and international norms, Afghan labor laws regarding children can be summarized as follows:
Minimum Age: The legal working age is 14.
Prohibited Work: Children are not allowed to work in hazardous jobs such as mining, night shifts, brick kilns, intensive agricultural labor, the military, and other dangerous sectors.
Working Hours: In addition to being banned from night shifts, children should work reduced hours and be granted certain benefits.
Access to Education and Skills Training: Employers must provide educational opportunities and professional skill development for working children. Afghan labor law defines child workers as apprentices for this reason.
Rest and Leave: Child laborers must be given daily and seasonal breaks and holidays.
Respect and Privacy: The dignity and privacy of child workers must be respected and protected.
Based on these standards, employers are obligated to comply with the outlined regulations, and the government must develop comprehensive policies to support child laborers and enforce the laws effectively.
In practice, however, these rules are often ignored. With increasing poverty in the country, the number of working children—including those under 14—continues to rise at an alarming rate. Just as millions of children, both boys and girls, are deprived of access to school, the unchecked recruitment of children into the workforce has added a new layer of tragedy to the suffering of Afghan children, their families, and Afghan society at large.
Tragically, there has been no significant action from the current de facto authorities in Afghanistan to address this humanitarian crisis. Meanwhile, the efforts of international organizations such as UNICEF and the ILO in this area remain subject to criticism and serious questions.
Nasrullah Stanikzai is a political analyst and former professor of law and political science at Kabul University.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Amu.
