Afghan children and women are paying the price of the great game of politics which has grounded Afghanistan for decades. Since the Soviet invasion in 1979, Afghanistan has been suffering different sorts of instabilities such as poverty, fragile security, unemployment and illiteracy. It is for three decades that the country has turned to a race ground for superpowers and save haven for international terrorists. The estimated population inhabiting this region is around 26 million (2012-Est.). UNICEF estimates that around 50 percent of the population of 26 million people is under the age of 18 and up to 30 percent of primary school age children are working.

These children are often the sole source of income for their families. As a result of Soviet invasion in 1979 and three decades of civil war, thousands of men and women are either killed or handicapped. There are hundreds of families who have lost their family men and there is no one to support the family, except children and women.  So, labor of children is the only significant option for the most of unshielded families to enhance the family’s well being.

During the Taliban regime, women were prohibited to leave their homes, they were not allowed to work outside. They closed and burned most of the girls’ schools. It is still culturally being followed in most of the regions like, southern and southeastern regions. Due to lacks of industrial infrastructures in the country, there are very few occupational opportunities for women and children. Most of the children and women who are working to finance their families are either working in shops, hotels and restaurants or on the roads and streets, washing cars and polishing shoes.

The average income of a child labor does not cross AFN 200 per day which is nothing in comparison to the high rate of living cost. In order to manage the life expenses, they have got no option other than begging that has created anther phenomenon about the civilian life in Afghanistan.

As the unemployment rate grows up in the country, the new generations prefer to join the militant groups rather than serving in government. Since the establishment of the transitional government in 2002, the international community has been pumping millions of dollars into Afghanistan, but the country is still one of the 10 poorest countries in the world. The political capital of the country is already changed to the beggars’ capital. There is no street in Kabul city where the beggars are not visible.

Young girls between the age of 14 – 18 holding school bags and books are sitting along the roads for begging. They are the most vulnerable segment of the beggars who can be kidnapped and raped any time. There is no guarantee for their safety. Nowadays, begging has emerged as part of Afghan culture which is really miserable and serious threat for the country’s future generations.

Education is considered as the key sector for a society to move ahead towards advancements and civilizations. But as a result of weak infrastructures, poverty and fragile security, there are around 3 millions of children who have denied this vital factor and they are pressurized to work and beg for financing their families.

Religious education in most of the regions was the only option during the civil war and Taliban regime. This educational system was and is still preferred in some regions because it is cheap and accessible to everyone. On the other hand, the extremist militants do not threaten the students and teachers of this type of educational system. But, it is unfortunate that this type of educational system is not responsive to the demand of today’s leading world of technology.

Children are basically the future of a nation. Healthy, educated and optimistic children guarantee a better and prosperous future for a nation. Therefore, their nourishment and security must be the top priority of a society. Unfortunately, our country has not been able to guarantee a secure and reputable position for the children of the society. Many children, because of improper birth or because of lack of health facilities and insufficient nutrition either die in the very beginning of their lives or able to drag on their lives with certain physical deformities and serious diseases.

Most of the children of the society are not able to have access to education, either because of the financial problems or the traditional hatred of the parents for modern schooling system. The girls in this regard suffer even to more extreme levels. Moreover, the children who do not get a chance to be admitted in school are then sent out for labor so that they can prove to be a helping hand for their parents and in the process they are left at the mercy of the social evils. Child labors are exposed to crimes and maltreatment to a risky extent, especially the ones who are employed by shop-owners, mechanics and small firms.

They are even put to violent treatment by their employers on pity matters. Further, another concerning factor regarding the plight of the children in Afghanistan is the growing number of child beggars. Families, stricken with intense poverty, do not hesitate even to send their children for begging. Apart from that, there are professional beggars who utilize the helpless children for the begging purposes. The children are even abducted for the same purpose.

Child labor threatens Afghan economic growth and human development. On the other hand, poverty and insecurity have long prevented generations of Afghans from becoming educated. Illiteracy and poverty are the two primary rivals of Afghan civilians that unfortunately children and women have been the most vulnerable victims of these challenges throughout the history.

The security of the children against all sort of violence, their proper nourishment and their character development are the most important considerations to contemplate on, if the government is really serious to safeguard the rights of the children. The same children are going to be the builders of future; their proper care should be ascertained through every possible means. Apart from the government the members of the society can also play a tremendous role in diminishing violence against the children and uplifting their morale.