A team of Terre des hommes in Afghanistan recently went to meet 667 children, 52 of them girls, who work in the streets of Kabul, Afghanistan. These children said they were 7 to 18 years old, although dozens of them looked to be under 5. Few of them sleep on the streets, the majority go home to their parents at night after a hard day's work of between 4 to 14 hours, until late in the evening.
As they told the Terre des hommes team, most of these children are employed to sell fruit or vegetables, to wash cars, shine shoes, search for wood, to retrieve plastic bottles, or simply to beg in the streets. Some of them earn 1 dollar a day, others hardly more; a few can manage to collect up to 10 dollars, although some told us sadly that there are often days when they do not earn anything at all, as they worked with their father, uncle or older brother. If the children do not sleep in the streets, unlike many children in other countries - orphans, refugees or homeless migrants - this is due to the fact that a high proportion (93%) of these young Afghanis are pushed out by their parents to earn money from a very young age. Overwhelmed by the economic problems caused by displacement, illness or loss of employment, their parents can often not even imagine other possibilities.
63% of these 667 children, however, do find time to go to school. Most of the others have never attended, held back either by the poverty of their families, the lack of infrastructure or the irresponsibility of their parents. Unfortunately, many of the children also have very low self-esteem and feel themselves incapable of learning. The teachers in Afghani schools are not generally trained to be able to help them.
Some of the children said they had been working on the streets for two weeks, whereas others had done it for 7 years. This figure should, of course, be considered with caution, as they have no real concept of time: working has often become a routine for them. However, it does show that child labour is a long-standing phenomenon and that it will, unfortunately, be a hard job to persuade them, and their parents, to stop working on the streets.
The problem is particularly acute at night. This is actually the time when the children run the greatest risks and admitted to being frightened: afraid of the dark, of the other people on the streets, of even of being kidnapped. Suffering as well from pollution or from not having access to drinking water, hanging around at night is harmful not only to their lives as children, but also to their health. During the survey, the Terre des hommes team spotted 25 children suffering from bad health; 9 of them had to be referred to hospital, the other ones could be treated directly. In the same way, the 14 children who admitted that they spend their nights on the streets were sent to an emergency shelter run by a partner of Terre des hommes, Aschiana, who takes them in, looks after them and tries to reunite them with their families.
On 21st February, 2011, this survey was presented to several representatives of the State by the Consortium of organisations run by Terre des hommes for child protection and the promotion of child rights. The Assistant Minister for Social Affairs, representatives from the Ministries of Justice, Public Heath, Education, the Interior, as well as the Afghani Independent Commission for Human Rights and several NGOs met together to become fully aware of the situation of children working on the streets. Four of these children were invited to give their witness accounts.
The Assistant Minister for Social Affairs welcomed this presentation, which he said he considered as great progress in assessing the situation in detail and the needs of the children. Thanks to the report by Terre des hommes, the social services of the State could now define practical strategies for taking care of this issue, respond to the recommendations of the investigation, and so support the work of the Consortium for child rights.
According to the results of the inquiry, support for the families is fundamental in the fight against child labour. It is really first of all the parents who must understand the risks their children run in the streets. But beforehand, they also need to find means of earning in other ways. Actions of prevention as well as activities allowing them to earn money must be offered. At the same time, these children should be able to be protected against all sorts of dangers when they go out into the streets.