Childhood is the most innocent stage in a human life. It can be classified into early teen and late teenage –those in their late teens are said youth and early teens are called children. Both of them are rich asset of a nation. It is that phase of life where a child is free from all the tensions, fun-loving, play and learns new things, and is the sweetheart of all the family members. But this is only one side of the story. The other side is full of tensions and burdens. Here, the innocent child is not the sweetheart of the family members; instead he is an earning machine working the entire day in order to satisfy the needs and wants of his/her family and eventually resulting in child labor.

Child labor is one of the biggest challenges that the whole world is facing now. Child labor includes working children who are below a certain minimum age. This practice is going on since long and is one of the worst forms of child exploitation. Child labor not only causes damage to a child’s physical and mental health but also keep him deprive of his basic rights to education, development and freedom. According to statistics provided by UNICEF, there are an estimated 250 million children aged 5 to 14 years employed in child labor worldwide and this figure is continuously increasing.

This evil is not only affecting under-developed and developing countries, but developed countries are also facing this though the rate is comparatively very less. Child labor in Asia accounts for the highest percentage of child labor (61%) followed by Africa (32%). According to International Labor Organization (ILO), if child labor will be banned and all children get proper education, world’s total income would be raised by nearly 22% over 20 years, which accounts for more than $4 trillion. Banning child labor will help in boosting the economy of a country.

Child labor victims in Afghanistan mostly work in illegal remote mines and other sources for at least 12 hours a day since mining a major source of income for poor families, they then force their children into it for money, food and other things. Child labour is an issue of growing concern in Afghanistan. According to recent estimates, one in four Afghan children aged seven to 14 is engaged in some form of work. This data explores why children in Afghanistan work, focusing specifically on factors that influence decision-making at the household level. Drawing on findings from an in-depth, qualitative study of poor households that use child labour as well as those that do not, this paper looks beyond poverty to explore the range of social and cultural factors in household decision-making about child labour and considers their implications for policy.

The findings were drawn from interviews with 33 poor households in both urban and rural settings Kabul province, including Kabul city and a peri-urban community in Paghman; Herat province, including Herat city and a community near the Islam Qala border with Iran; and a rural village in Badakhshan province. In addition, researchers consulted stakeholders from the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, and Martyrs and Disabled (MoLSAMD), national and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and United Nations agencies in developing policy and programme recommendations.The decision to send children to work is influenced by a combination of factors. Poverty is an obvious contextual factor that dominates the decision-making of all households in the study. In addition, household composition and gender norms affect the availability of labour resources, which can result in the need to send children to work.

It is a great national wastage if these energetic hands and brains are not provided with some sort of work to meet the needs of the nation. What is needed is that they should be taken into confidence and given a direction—some constructive work. This massive manpower can do wonders provided its enthusiasm is harnessed for development work. Afghanistan youth have never lagged behind when called upon to meet a challenge. It is for the national leaders to play their part by mobilizing their abilities and providing them with a direction instead of letting them at the reach of extremist elements.

There can be a large number of schemes, projects and programs wherein their total involvement will bring quicker and better results. They can play a pivotal role in the socio-economic regeneration of the society. There are many evil practices in our society. If the youth is associated in a drive against these practices, the results may be much more satisfactory. There may be schemes connected with the raising of the level of production in agriculture. The youth may be assigned the job of dissemination of knowledge for better farming, new techniques and proper use of fertilizers and pesticides. What is required is that they may be given adequate training in these tasks. In a drive against economic offences, their energy may be used in molding public opinion in favor of eradication and prevention of such offences. The youth may work successfully as an arm of the administration in the implementation of governmental programs aimed at fighting against these and other maladies.

Another field wherein their energy may be gainfully employed is the task of adult education and universalisation of education. Being given a little dose of incentive encouragement and support, they may take over the great responsibility of fulfilling the targets fixed by the government. Their services may similarly be utilized for preventing and fighting offences like smuggling, black-marketing and hoarding. They can at least create public opinion against those who indulge in such unfair practices. However, in order for continuous success to take place; it is the Government’s responsibility to provide the youth with proper facilities for, getting equipped with the knowledge of the modern era.