Greeting to you the hearer of the program, as you know the Killid Group along with a number of cooperator institutions has started a number of programs regarding the rights of children and issues related to the children, disabled and women, in our today’s roundtable we will discuss the rights and problems of children with our partners, a number of families and children. Our guests in the round table are: Mr. Husain Nasrat the coordinator of children development and support programs in Human Rights Commission of Afghanistan, Waheedulah Tokhi the the in charge of children rights in TDH organization , Engineer Mohammad Yusuf the director of ASHIANA organization, Mukhtar Kakar the from TDH organization . We had invited the guest from ministry work, social affairs and martyrs and disabled as well but they have not attended yet.
Question: I would like to ask Mr. Engineer Mohammad Yusuf the director of ASHIANA organization that what is the cause for hard work on the children?
Answer: First of all greetings to all, in response to your question I should say that there are different factors for the hard work on children, poverty has caused that the children do hard work for solving their economic problems, war is the second factor which has effaced all the economic institutions, the disability in the family is another factor which coerce the children to do hard work, beside the mentioned factors there are more causes as well which causes that the children do hard work.
Question: Have you seen instances that the children do the hard work due to families’ pressure and have been kept away from education?
Answer: You cannot find any child who work hard on the road according to its own wish or pressure of the family rather there are children who do hard work due to economic problems and for finding livelihood; this is the responsibility of the government to provide proper life situation for the children in order they not be away from the learning the literacy.
Question: One of the hearer asks that there are many discussions on the hard work on the children but practically nothing happened so what is the solution way for the problem? Mr.Nasrat replies.
Answer: Awareness regarding the children rights is the solution way because inexistence of the awareness about rights of children has caused that the children do the hard work or be abused, awareness in this regard will inform the individuals in the community how to follow and support the rights of children.
Question: According to Children’s Rights Convention the one who has under 18 years age can be called the child but in our country the case is not like that as any youth whether is boy or girl is addressed by the family that you are not child you are young now young; so I would like to ask Mr.Waheedullah Tookhi that what is the hard work?
Answer: First I should say that anyone who has low age than 18 years called child based on the law of the country; so anyone who has low age than 18 years if even sell the gem is called hard work. By my point of view all the works that are done by the children on the roads called hard work and there is no one to follow the issue.
Question: Mr. Nasrat how the government of Afghanistan has accomplished its responsibility considering Children’s Rights Convention?
Answer: The government of Afghanistan signed the Children’s Rights Convention and Afghan government sent its report to the Children Rights committee in Geneva and the committee has sent its recommendations in this regard as well to the government of Afghanistan.
The fact that what works the government of Afghanistan has done regarding the rights of the children I should says that though the statistics of the students have increased after fall of Taliban regime but it doesn’t mean that the government of Afghanistan has accomplished it’s all responsibilities; I would like to state clearly through your radio that Afghanistan is in a bad health and education situation.
Question: Shaima from MEDICA office asks Mr.Nasrat that what is main cause of hard work on children on the roads.
We will have answers from Mr. Nasrat and Engineer Yusuf in this regard.
Answer: (Engineer Yusuf) though the question was from Mr.Nasrat but I want to mention that unawareness of families is not the only factor of the hard work on the children rather poverty, illiteracy, war, draught, insecurity are also the factors for the hard work on children. Regarding the question of our sister who asked whether hard work on children is breach of law or not I should say that any work accomplished by children is the breach of law.
Answer:(Nasrat) Regarding the question I should say that there are many reasons for the hard work on the children but I would like to state the findings of the Afghanistan Human Rights; The mentioned institution has addressed the economic weakness, loans and unawareness of the families as important factors of the hard work on the children.
In this Round Table we also have Mr. Kakar the in charge of night project of TDH organization and we want to ask him to share his experiences.
Answer: Greeting to all of you as it was told that we along with our team are working in the night time, we see that most of the children are working up to late in the night on the roads, most of the children are not going to the school and the children that are going to school directly going to works on the roads such as bag selling, car washing and turning the smoke to wile rue after they finish the school. The other problem in front of these children is this they are living in
remote areas and face with numerous problems during returning to their house such as facing with vagrant dogs, sex abusage on the other hand they are remained away from the education as well. Repelling the economic problems is the main factor for the work on the road for some of the children but there are some children who do work on the road to have more money without informing their families which not only solve the economic problems of the families rather they create social and economic problems for the future of families and the country.
Question: Mr. Tookhi is there any type of work that the children should do in the childhood?
Answer: The children are the future makers of the country and there is no need for them to work, they should study though it has been stated in ILO convention that the children are allowed to do some of the small works in the home not for earning the money but working on the road which is counted hard work is not allowed at all.
Question: Ahmad Khaled from Dasht e Barchi asks that why the government of Afghanistan doesn’t prevent the hard work on the children?
Answer: Engineer Yusuf says in this regard that it is not correct that if we say that the government has not done anything but we can says that the works done by the government has not solved the problems of the children so the governmental nun governmental institutions has responsibility to do more work for the solving the problems of the children.
Question: As Afghanistan signed the convention of children rights in 1994, is not the establishment of private educational centers and having no access of some of the children to these centers a breach of children rights? I would like to hear the view of Mr.Nasrat.
Answer: The government of Afghanistan signed the Children’s Right Convention in 1994, not only in the law compiled by this convention but in law of Afghanistan the education has been mentioned free of charges up to licentiate degree. But this not against establishment of private educational centers. I don’t have figures about the increment of worker children but the fact is this that they have not decreased. Regarding the activities of the government I should says that the activities of the government have never been sufficient.
Now we want to join other participants and we will find out what the children who are busy on hard and tiresome works on the roads tell about their works?
Farzana is the mother of children who working on the road says that no mother or father doesn’t like their children work on the roads but economic problems coerce them to do hard work on the roads, according to Farzana’s words her husband is disabled and her children have to work on the road to find livelihood, she asks the government to provide work opportunity for her and her husband.
Abdul Hakeem says that he had come from Helmand and studying in ASHIANA, he is able to write easily and he is apprentice of a tailor as well, he asks the government to provide shelter for him.
One of the residents of Helmand says that he has come from Helmand to Kabul two years back due to security difficulties says that only ASHIANA organization has prepared the education groundwork for his children but the government has not done anything for him and asks the government to provide the work opportunity for him.
Mir Alam is another resident of Helmand who has come to Kabul, he says that ASHIANA organization has provided the education groundwork for his children and the stationery for the children is also provided by ASHIANA but the government has not helped him, he requests the government to provide the work opportunity for the parents in order they be saved from poverty and disaster.
Najman one of the children says that he is studying in second class of Sangae school and after school he goes to fruit market and works, he says that though he gets tired in the day but still he read his lessons in the night time.
Nematullah is another displaced child who has come to Kabul from Helmand along with his family, he is also a student of ASHIANA, he works after school time on the road, and he asks the government to give him shelter.
Waheeda is another student wit ASHIANA who spends the small amount of the money earned from sale of plastic bags on the road after school to support the livelihood of her family, she says that she is faced with numerous family and social problems.
Question: Mr.Nasrat last year a report was published through your office that most of the hard works are being done on children in the rural areas not in the cities, what is your idea about the issue?
Answer: The hard work of city is different with hard work of the rural areas, for example the hard work in the city includes bag selling, car washing …. But in the province the parent don’t call the hard works that the children are accomplishing as they say that they are busy on some works at home so the findings of the Commission shows that the hard works are more in the rural areas than in cities.
Question: Mr. Tookhi what is the what is the bad effects of the hard work on the children?
Answer: We all believe on one saying that the children are the future makers, when they are busy with hard work in an age that they should study, so the future of the country is agitating, the effects on the children are also risky as they face with health, psychological and economic problems.
Question: Mr. Engineer Mohammad Yusuf last year UNICEF had a suggestion that a subject called Human Rights is included in curriculum, how do you see this idea effective and practical?
Answer: As we all know that awareness in any level is useful and important, if a subject on Human Rights be taught from the beginning in the school the children will access to the issue that are very useful for their future and future of the country.
Now we turn back to the mothers and the children who have participated in the discussion and want to propound their questions:
Question: Pekai one of the mothers says that her husband has heart problem, some she and some time her husband works but due to abundance of problems they have to send their children to work on the road as well, she crying and adds that she had come here to be helped by governmental and nun governmental institutions .
Roshan is one of the mothers of the children on the road, she says that she along with her small daughter working, her husband is sick, she asks the government to perceive their problems and help them in repelling the problems.
Question: Dr. Yaseen Raheem asks that what is the responsibility of the countrymen against this injured category of the community.
Answer: Engineer Mohammad Yusuf says it is really not responsibility of the government rather all the people of the country should jointly combat against this hot problem.
Mr. Nasrat believes that the children are the men and women of the future who should work in high positions, therefore all the members of the community should help them.
Mr.Kakar who is working in the night along with his team says that the children should be behaved well. He suggests that the money should not be given directly to the children as alms because they will be addicted with lams earning rather the money should be given to an institution to be used for them in a proper way.
At the end Mr.Tookhi says the children who are living in a country are the children of all the people and all the people have responsibility to help them.
Thanks all the guests and participants in this discussion.
Question: Haji Ahmad Shah in charge of the Disabled’ activities asks that article number 49 of the constitution says that tolerating compulsory work is not allowable, participation in war situation is obligation of every Afghan, it has also mentioned in other article that the government is implementer of the law , so has not breached government the law?
Question: Shahla whose four children are doing hard work on the road asks that is not this the breach of children rights, she requests the government and other institutions to help in this regard.
Question: Parween one of the cooperators of the deaf union says that this will be good if the awareness programs regarding the rights of children be considered, she says that the government of Afghanistan signs the every treaty but fails in its implementation.
