Afghan children and women are the victims of great game being played in the region. Since the soviet invasion in 1979, Afghanistan has been suffering from different sorts of instabilities such as poverty, fragile security, unemployment and illiteracy. It has been three decades that the country has been turned to a race course 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 members and there is no one to support the family, except children and women. Therefore, labor of child is the only significant option most of the 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 lack 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 200 AFN 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 another concern about the civilian life in Afghanistan.
As the unemployment rate grows 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 into part of Afghan culture which is really miserable and serious threat for the country's future generations.
Education is considered as the key foundation for a society to move ahead towards advancement and civilization. But as a result of weak infrastructures, poverty and fragile security, there are around 3 millions of children who have been 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 alas, the religious educational system, prevalent in our country, is not responsive to the demands of today's leading world of technology.
Child labor threatens Afghan economic growth and human development. On the hand, poverty and insecurity have long prevented generations of Afghan from becoming educated. Illiteracy and poverty are the two primary rivals of Afghan civilians and it is unfortunate that children and women have been the most vulnerable victims of these challenges throughout the history.