KABUL - In Afghanistan, poverty and unemployment remain such systemic problems that children all over the country are forced to abandon their education and begin working to help support their families.

Based on unconfirmed statistics, Afghanistan has six million children engaged in the labor market, which would give it one of the highest rates in the world. Commentators have expressed grave concerns about the trend, urging the central government to take action to stem the phenomenon.

"Child laborers are increasing and there are many reasons," All Afghanistan Federation of Trade Unions (AAFTU) President Mohammad Liaqat Adil said on Friday. "First, the government has not done anything for them, which they must do; second, no investment took place in the country, which must be done; and the third one is the government does not pay attention to the wages of workers. All of these reason have caused the increase in child labor labor."

For many child workers in Afghanistan, however, the direct causes of their plight often have little to do with macro-level issues involving the government or investment, and more to do with their families and local communities.

"Five years ago my father passed away, so we don't have any one else at home and I am the worker, and I must find money - there is no other way for me," one child laborer in Kandahar province told TOLOnews.

"How will I find money if I go to school while my father is jobless and I have to work?" asked another young worker in Helmand province.

Human rights activists seem to recognize both the high-level and ground-level factors playing into the troubling trend of child labor in Afghanistan. "The current political situation has had negative effects on the economy of families, and when fathers becoming jobless, they are using their children to work," Kandahar Children's Human Rights Commission Director Shamsuddin Tanwi said.

During the presidential election in 2014, a number of leaders now in top positions within the national unity government championed themselves with promises to get child workers off the streets. However, little-to-no action on the matter has been taken by the government since it took office. (Tolonews)