Unemployment is one of the government’s biggest challenges. The frustration among youth is widespread.
Didar Mashreqi is a university graduate and jobless. “There is high unemployment, and it makes the future of Afghanistan even bleaker,” he says. It pinches the educated and ordinary people, he adds.
Unemployment is one of the government’s biggest challenges. The frustration among youth is widespread.
Didar Mashreqi is a university graduate and jobless. “There is high unemployment, and it makes the future of Afghanistan even bleaker,” he says. It pinches the educated and ordinary people, he adds.
Reza Haidaryan graduated from the Faculty of Law and Political Science in Kabul University. “What is the benefit of a government that cannot create jobs?” he rhetorically says. He is also disenchanted with the uneven justice system. “The law must be equal for all people, and not influenced by relations (with the powerful) and corruption,” he says.
Jalil Rawnaq graduated from the Faculty of Journalism in Kabul University. “The present government instead of finding work (opportunities) for educated youths is ensuring they are disappointed about the future. The prevalence of corruption makes it very difficult to land jobs,” he observes.
Rawnaq blames all institutions including the government, Parliament and civil society of not delivering on promises to solve the unemployment problem.
Successive governments have promised projects like TAPI, Rah e Abrishum (silk route) and Rah e Laajward (route of Lapis Lazuli) will be the answers to Afghanistan’s unemployment.
Ali Eftekhari, spokesperson for the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Martyrs & Disabled said the government is in the process of signing an MoU (memorandum of understanding) with Saudi Arabia for work visas for Afghan labour. Khair Mohammad Nero, head of human resources in the ministry, said the agreement has been finalised but not signed. A similar agreement with Qatar has been in the pipeline for years.
“The problems of visas for sending labour to Qatar has not been solved yet. We are waiting for Qatar to let us know how many Afghans can be given work,” Nero explains.
Is the government of national unity’s lack of experience an obstacle to the progress in talks? Qurban Ziayee, a graduate from the Faculty of Agriculture in Kabul University, blames it on inexperienced “officials”. “There should have been many opportunities for graduates like me after all Afghanistan is an agricultural country. But not just me, many graduates from the faculty are jobless,” he adds.
Yet there are vacancies even in government. According to some reports, there are some 51 vacant posts. Nero, the head of human resources, says a “list of vacant posts would be prepared and the youth would be attracted through competition (competitive exam).”
Need a working strategy
Civil society activist Enayatullah Naser fears that unless the government rises to the challenge of finding jobs for people, Afghan youth could turn to all sorts of mischief including smuggling and drug addiction. “The government must have a strategy to counter unemployment,” he says.
Activist Ahmad Shah Stanekzai thinks the government should learn from countries that have tackled unemployment. “We can use the experience of China … we should produce quality goods and find markets. This would lower the level of joblessness and allow the economy to grow,” he says.
The Central Statistics Organisation (CSO) estimates the unemployment population at 39 percent. Nero puts the number of unemployed youths at 27.4 percent of the young.
Waselnoor Mohmand, the deputy minister of labour, social affairs, martyrs & disabled, says that the self-employed, including those working in street stalls and handicrafts at home, are included among the unemployed because they have neither regular work nor earn a fixed amount. “Our youth would get jobs as soon as projects in mines, trade and industries and road construction are implemented,” he says.
Union leader Maroof Qaderi pins the number of unemployed at 12 million.
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