Informal Workers – Neglected & Victimized
“We will create a stateless and classless society and there will be job opportunities for all. Every Afghan will have equal rights and opportunities. Religion is used as a means by the ‘high class’ portion of a society to deprive the poor of their basic rights and justify their wrongdoings to the poor.” Said the Soviet Union to justify their intrusion and invasion of Afghanistan.
Almost all the Afghans were greatly angered by their religious views, which resulted in not only their defeat but also the collapse of their regime and union. However, the creation of a classless state with job opportunities along with other benefits for everyone were amongst the attractions that appealed to a big mass of the Afghan society thanks to King Zaher Shah’s negligence of the poor and limiting his kingdom boundaries to Karez-e-Meer, Paghman and Sorobee and the establishment of a ‘Sardar’ class.
Even today some Afghans still approve of socialistic regime simply because of job opportunities and other benefits like the government-owned cooperatives, establishment of the coupon system for the purchase of the basic commodities and the fact that the by-then government ministers and other high-ranking officials couldn’t own and have one tenth of what they do today.
While fighting the Soviet regime with sickles, axes, spades and other basic tools that weren’t even considered weapons, little did Afghans realize that when an elected government will be established, the same Sardar – victimized poor people will remain victims of the capitalism, what is touted to be a great economic and social model for any country. After the establishment of the Interim government, the average Afghans had set their hopes high thinking the government would at least create jobs considering the fact that billions of dollars were promised and millions were pouring in the country. However after seeing the unemployment rate rise to 40% (ANDS) and 42% citizens living under $14 (ANDS) a month, the decline in the hope graphs can be easily inferred.
According to a reference made by a HRRAC study to a World Bank study, 80 – 90% of the economy is formed informally or by informal workers. In other words, home-based subcontracted workers (quilt sewers, rug weavers, embroiderers etc) and self-employed workers (street vendors, construction workers, small-scare farmers and entrepreneurs) are the producers of the 80 – 90% of the Afghan economy. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), these workers are neither recognized nor protected under legal and regulatory frameworks.
Mind you, the street vendors, the construction workers, the quilt sewers, rug weaves et al that you run into weren’t born informal workers. They are the real Mujahideen, widows, students, former military and civil employees who are laid off for various reasons and survivors of the more than 3 decades of the different wars in the country. Wholly speaking, they are the same people who were once victimized by the Sardars of King Zahir Shah and now they are victimized by today’s capitalistic regime. The reason for not mentioning Sardar Dawood Khan’s regime is that it was too short and the other regimes never had any legitimacy in the eyes of the Afghans.
These informal workers are deprived of their basic rights, such as (long-term) employment, fixed wages (there is no minimum wage) and hours, health insurance, maternity leaves, paid leaves and any other benefits that both the constitution and the labor code of a country guarantee. On top of that, most of them give up education as working informally leaves them with little time to concentrate on other matters. Mind you, they are not happy with what they are doing, but have to settle with it due to familial responsibilities, low incomes, having no capital to establish a big business, lack of English language proficiency and computer skills and a host of other issues.
Their working conditions are hazardous and seriously harm their health conditions. For example, a woman who sews quilts usually does so under low light that terribly affects her eyesight, spinal column, backbone and hand joints. A construction worker does not have the required and standard gloves, boots and hard caps, which makes him vulnerable to injuries and death at the construction site. A rug weaver’s lungs are usually drastically affected by the dust that blows in her nostrils and mouth while weaving drugs. The examples are plenty. In one unique case, an informal worker had to start working after a week her baby was delivered. One has to have a heart of steel to be able to sit and listen to the informal workers’ health problems.
“Today, Pakistani construction workers come to our country and work.” Said President Karzai in one of his speeches. Mr. President, thank you for taking pride in the employment of the Pakistanis by Afghans. However, has anyone brought to your attention that an Afghan construction worker waits for work in Kotay Sangee and goes home without finding a job for days? Some construction workers do complain that Pakistani construction workers steal their work. Although Afghan construction workers may deny it, Pakistani workers are more skilled and professional and, hence, get more work than Afghans do. However, isn’t it the Afghan government’s responsibility to build the capacities of the Afghan construction workers and Afghan informal workers, in general?
In a recent research conducted by Human Rights Research & Advocacy Consortium (HRRAC), a landowner revealed that if, after leasing his piece of land to a farmer, the crops are destroyed by natural or any other diseases, the farmer will be responsible for the damage. Isn’t this worse than servitude? Where is the Ministry of Labor when contracts with such clauses are signed? Mind you, this is common practice.
A great chunk of the informal workers are street vendors. They have a tough time finding spots for their carts or places to stand. They work under the mercy of the police or traffic police officers. Some of these officers are “kind” and let them stay at one place after the vendors bribe them with a little money or a sale item from their carts. Others simply drive them away from one corner to another and slash their carts’ tires. The funniest part is that the very spot forbidden for the street vendors at a given day becomes their so-called market the following day.
The informal workers’ standard of living is piteous. Most of them have to survive with one meal per day, live in tents or under an enclosure barely fenced by four walls and a roof that we can’t call a house, some of them have beggars in their household and …
In conclusion, informal workers are the majority that is almost completely overlooked although they are very much visible around us. Asking for support from President Karzai’s government is talking to deaf ears. Usually President Karzai prioritizes matters that embarrass him and his administration internationally like the Shia Family Law, corruption etc or the ones that could be security threats. So, we will explain it to him how neglecting the informal workers could become a great security threat. Right now, Talibanization, suicide attacks, armed robbery, kidnapping etc are amongst the key problems the government is facing. Unlike the job market for informal workers that isn’t so welcoming, the Taliban and other criminals welcome new recruits even as you are reading this paper. Mr. President, if the government is not providing job opportunities and the Taliban are offering a few dollars with a rocket launcher to shoot at an international force or ANA and ANP vehicle, how long will it take for an informal worker to ignore that option and wait for legit work? Similar inferences about suicide attackers, armed robbers and so on could be made. Putting oneself in their shoes will help a great deal. Presenting this innocent majority of the society to the Taliban and other unwanted figures is no different than giving away the lifetime opportunity of establishing a long-term security from 2001 – 2005. Yesterday the government overlooked and underestimated the Taliban. Today the government is begging them to reconcile, but it is yet to happen. Today the informal workers are neglected. Is the government looking for an opportunity to have to beg them to reconcile tomorrow, too?
“We will create a stateless and classless society and there will be job opportunities for all. Every Afghan will have equal rights and opportunities. Religion is used as a means by the ‘high class’ portion of a society to deprive the poor of their basic rights and justify their wrongdoings to the poor.” Said the Soviet Union to justify their intrusion and invasion of Afghanistan.
Almost all the Afghans were greatly angered by their religious views, which resulted in not only their defeat but also the collapse of their regime and union. However, the creation of a classless state with job opportunities along with other benefits for everyone were amongst the attractions that appealed to a big mass of the Afghan society thanks to King Zaher Shah’s negligence of the poor and limiting his kingdom boundaries to Karez-e-Meer, Paghman and Sorobee and the establishment of a ‘Sardar’ class.
Even today some Afghans still approve of socialistic regime simply because of job opportunities and other benefits like the government-owned cooperatives, establishment of the coupon system for the purchase of the basic commodities and the fact that the by-then government ministers and other high-ranking officials couldn’t own and have one tenth of what they do today.
While fighting the Soviet regime with sickles, axes, spades and other basic tools that weren’t even considered weapons, little did Afghans realize that when an elected government will be established, the same Sardar – victimized poor people will remain victims of the capitalism, what is touted to be a great economic and social model for any country. After the establishment of the Interim government, the average Afghans had set their hopes high thinking the government would at least create jobs considering the fact that billions of dollars were promised and millions were pouring in the country. However after seeing the unemployment rate rise to 40% (ANDS) and 42% citizens living under $14 (ANDS) a month, the decline in the hope graphs can be easily inferred.
According to a reference made by a HRRAC study to a World Bank study, 80 – 90% of the economy is formed informally or by informal workers. In other words, home-based subcontracted workers (quilt sewers, rug weavers, embroiderers etc) and self-employed workers (street vendors, construction workers, small-scare farmers and entrepreneurs) are the producers of the 80 – 90% of the Afghan economy. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), these workers are neither recognized nor protected under legal and regulatory frameworks.
Mind you, the street vendors, the construction workers, the quilt sewers, rug weaves et al that you run into weren’t born informal workers. They are the real Mujahideen, widows, students, former military and civil employees who are laid off for various reasons and survivors of the more than 3 decades of the different wars in the country. Wholly speaking, they are the same people who were once victimized by the Sardars of King Zahir Shah and now they are victimized by today’s capitalistic regime. The reason for not mentioning Sardar Dawood Khan’s regime is that it was too short and the other regimes never had any legitimacy in the eyes of the Afghans.
These informal workers are deprived of their basic rights, such as (long-term) employment, fixed wages (there is no minimum wage) and hours, health insurance, maternity leaves, paid leaves and any other benefits that both the constitution and the labor code of a country guarantee. On top of that, most of them give up education as working informally leaves them with little time to concentrate on other matters. Mind you, they are not happy with what they are doing, but have to settle with it due to familial responsibilities, low incomes, having no capital to establish a big business, lack of English language proficiency and computer skills and a host of other issues.
Their working conditions are hazardous and seriously harm their health conditions. For example, a woman who sews quilts usually does so under low light that terribly affects her eyesight, spinal column, backbone and hand joints. A construction worker does not have the required and standard gloves, boots and hard caps, which makes him vulnerable to injuries and death at the construction site. A rug weaver’s lungs are usually drastically affected by the dust that blows in her nostrils and mouth while weaving drugs. The examples are plenty. In one unique case, an informal worker had to start working after a week her baby was delivered. One has to have a heart of steel to be able to sit and listen to the informal workers’ health problems.
“Today, Pakistani construction workers come to our country and work.” Said President Karzai in one of his speeches. Mr. President, thank you for taking pride in the employment of the Pakistanis by Afghans. However, has anyone brought to your attention that an Afghan construction worker waits for work in Kotay Sangee and goes home without finding a job for days? Some construction workers do complain that Pakistani construction workers steal their work. Although Afghan construction workers may deny it, Pakistani workers are more skilled and professional and, hence, get more work than Afghans do. However, isn’t it the Afghan government’s responsibility to build the capacities of the Afghan construction workers and Afghan informal workers, in general?
In a recent research conducted by Human Rights Research & Advocacy Consortium (HRRAC), a landowner revealed that if, after leasing his piece of land to a farmer, the crops are destroyed by natural or any other diseases, the farmer will be responsible for the damage. Isn’t this worse than servitude? Where is the Ministry of Labor when contracts with such clauses are signed? Mind you, this is common practice.
A great chunk of the informal workers are street vendors. They have a tough time finding spots for their carts or places to stand. They work under the mercy of the police or traffic police officers. Some of these officers are “kind” and let them stay at one place after the vendors bribe them with a little money or a sale item from their carts. Others simply drive them away from one corner to another and slash their carts’ tires. The funniest part is that the very spot forbidden for the street vendors at a given day becomes their so-called market the following day.
The informal workers’ standard of living is piteous. Most of them have to survive with one meal per day, live in tents or under an enclosure barely fenced by four walls and a roof that we can’t call a house, some of them have beggars in their household and …
In conclusion, informal workers are the majority that is almost completely overlooked although they are very much visible around us. Asking for support from President Karzai’s government is talking to deaf ears. Usually President Karzai prioritizes matters that embarrass him and his administration internationally like the Shia Family Law, corruption etc or the ones that could be security threats. So, we will explain it to him how neglecting the informal workers could become a great security threat. Right now, Talibanization, suicide attacks, armed robbery, kidnapping etc are amongst the key problems the government is facing. Unlike the job market for informal workers that isn’t so welcoming, the Taliban and other criminals welcome new recruits even as you are reading this paper. Mr. President, if the government is not providing job opportunities and the Taliban are offering a few dollars with a rocket launcher to shoot at an international force or ANA and ANP vehicle, how long will it take for an informal worker to ignore that option and wait for legit work? Similar inferences about suicide attackers, armed robbers and so on could be made. Putting oneself in their shoes will help a great deal. Presenting this innocent majority of the society to the Taliban and other unwanted figures is no different than giving away the lifetime opportunity of establishing a long-term security from 2001 – 2005. Yesterday the government overlooked and underestimated the Taliban. Today the government is begging them to reconcile, but it is yet to happen. Today the informal workers are neglected. Is the government looking for an opportunity to have to beg them to reconcile tomorrow, too?
Informal Workers – The Negligence & Victimization Continues
(Part II)
Sponsored by HRRAC
Unemployment Rate for Men
-Ministry of Labor & Social Affairs stats
Age Group Percentage
15 – 25 68%
35 – 54 40%
65+ 49%
(Part II)
Sponsored by HRRAC
Unemployment Rate for Men
-Ministry of Labor & Social Affairs stats
Age Group Percentage
15 – 25 68%
35 – 54 40%
65+ 49%
“The government neglects us. We don’t ask for anything from the government because they are inconsiderate. This is a government for businessmen. This is a government for the rich, not the poor.” Said a street vendor in Herat in a focus group discussion of Human Right Research & Advocacy Consortium (HRRAC).
With informal workers contributing to 80 – 90% of the Afghan economy (World Bank), the 40% unemployment rate (ANDS) and the 42% of the population living under a $1 a month (ANDS), it should not be of any surprise that Afghanistan ranks 181 (out of 182) in the poorest countries category (UNHP). As a result, we do have to agree with President Karzai’s recent findings that the corruption has both in-house and off-shore borders. HRRAC stresses that informal workers are not covered by the Labor Code of Afghanistan and are neglected by the Government.
The aforementioned stats show us that if Afghanistan has to get out of this misery, the government has to focus on the plight of the 80 – 90% contributors (informal workers), which we discussed in general in the previous edition and will discuss at great lengths, this time using HRRAC’s report “Securing Human Dignity – The Need to Extend Labor Protection and Security to Afghanistan’s Informal Worker”, which is based on the recent research conducted on Afghan informal workers (home-based workers, vendors, farmers and construction workers) in five different provinces across Afghanistan.
a. Work Opportunities:
There are no standard ways of work distribution and publicity. Construction workers in Kabul, for example, have to go to certain squares and intersections as early as 0500 hrs and wait for several hours in the hope that a landlord or a contractor will come and hire them. They don’t have a monster.com or an ACBAR employment directory where they can post their resumes and hope that employers will call them directly.
Worse than that is a situation where fifty construction workers turn up for a contractor/landlord who needs only five as one of the HRRAC interviewees explained. In an exhibition of desperation, these workers get into fight for the job and the ones who emerge victorious, get the job. “Finding a job at chawk [the intersection where the construction workers look for wok] for us construction workers is like hunting. The most expert hunter, (like in Buzkashi), is the one who can the get the job. It takes [one to have motivating and hassling] skills.” Said one of the HRRAC interviewees, which leads us to believe that the scarcity of work for the construction workers is made scarcer by the hasslers and bullies amongst them.
When fifty workers turn up to a landlord/contractor who needs only five, he has the leverage to bargain and lower the wages to his pleasure. None of the fifty workers can say “NO” to him as his options are wide open.
b. License or Qualification Certificate:
In HRRAC research interviews, most of the informal workers asked the government to provide them with a license or a qualification certificate for two purposes:
To prove that they have certain skills (construction, rug weaving etc)
To gain legal status and to avoid harassment by the police, municipality and others
The Ministry of Labor & Social Affairs has offered licenses to a selected number of informal workers whose issuance and unavailability to all informal workers are questionable. MoL&SA needs to offer licenses and/or qualification certificates to all informal workers under a fair and reasonable program by ensuring that the officials of this very program does not follow the footsteps of Ministry of Interior’s passport department and driver’s license issuance departments and most Kabul Municipality’s officials whose under the table dealings are no secret to anyone.
c. Space:
Some street vendors complain that they are driven away from a certain place because the shopkeepers complain to the police. The shopkeepers justify the complaint by saying that the street vendors create unnecessary crowd, which drives away their customers. This clearly shows that the street vendors are seen as problems to the shopkeepers, too. It is necessary that they have the proper space to do business.
… we give women materials for sewing after they give us some money in advance to cover these materials. … if their work is unacceptable, we return the samples. We don’t return their money, though ...
--Female Home-Based Workers, HRRAC
With informal workers contributing to 80 – 90% of the Afghan economy (World Bank), the 40% unemployment rate (ANDS) and the 42% of the population living under a $1 a month (ANDS), it should not be of any surprise that Afghanistan ranks 181 (out of 182) in the poorest countries category (UNHP). As a result, we do have to agree with President Karzai’s recent findings that the corruption has both in-house and off-shore borders. HRRAC stresses that informal workers are not covered by the Labor Code of Afghanistan and are neglected by the Government.
The aforementioned stats show us that if Afghanistan has to get out of this misery, the government has to focus on the plight of the 80 – 90% contributors (informal workers), which we discussed in general in the previous edition and will discuss at great lengths, this time using HRRAC’s report “Securing Human Dignity – The Need to Extend Labor Protection and Security to Afghanistan’s Informal Worker”, which is based on the recent research conducted on Afghan informal workers (home-based workers, vendors, farmers and construction workers) in five different provinces across Afghanistan.
a. Work Opportunities:
There are no standard ways of work distribution and publicity. Construction workers in Kabul, for example, have to go to certain squares and intersections as early as 0500 hrs and wait for several hours in the hope that a landlord or a contractor will come and hire them. They don’t have a monster.com or an ACBAR employment directory where they can post their resumes and hope that employers will call them directly.
Worse than that is a situation where fifty construction workers turn up for a contractor/landlord who needs only five as one of the HRRAC interviewees explained. In an exhibition of desperation, these workers get into fight for the job and the ones who emerge victorious, get the job. “Finding a job at chawk [the intersection where the construction workers look for wok] for us construction workers is like hunting. The most expert hunter, (like in Buzkashi), is the one who can the get the job. It takes [one to have motivating and hassling] skills.” Said one of the HRRAC interviewees, which leads us to believe that the scarcity of work for the construction workers is made scarcer by the hasslers and bullies amongst them.
When fifty workers turn up to a landlord/contractor who needs only five, he has the leverage to bargain and lower the wages to his pleasure. None of the fifty workers can say “NO” to him as his options are wide open.
b. License or Qualification Certificate:
In HRRAC research interviews, most of the informal workers asked the government to provide them with a license or a qualification certificate for two purposes:
To prove that they have certain skills (construction, rug weaving etc)
To gain legal status and to avoid harassment by the police, municipality and others
The Ministry of Labor & Social Affairs has offered licenses to a selected number of informal workers whose issuance and unavailability to all informal workers are questionable. MoL&SA needs to offer licenses and/or qualification certificates to all informal workers under a fair and reasonable program by ensuring that the officials of this very program does not follow the footsteps of Ministry of Interior’s passport department and driver’s license issuance departments and most Kabul Municipality’s officials whose under the table dealings are no secret to anyone.
c. Space:
Some street vendors complain that they are driven away from a certain place because the shopkeepers complain to the police. The shopkeepers justify the complaint by saying that the street vendors create unnecessary crowd, which drives away their customers. This clearly shows that the street vendors are seen as problems to the shopkeepers, too. It is necessary that they have the proper space to do business.
… we give women materials for sewing after they give us some money in advance to cover these materials. … if their work is unacceptable, we return the samples. We don’t return their money, though ...
--Female Home-Based Workers, HRRAC
d. Contract:
Informal workers are almost unfamiliar to a written contract. As one of the HRRAC interviewees said, their contracts are the word of mouth, which is an acceptable means of contracting and carrying business, but not when this sort of contract is used to misuse the rights of a contracted employee or when work features, such as hours, safety, pay and so on are taken for granted.
Sometimes these verbal or written contracts signed with the informal workers are worse than not having a contract as they clearly violate the rights of the informal workers. HRRAC’s report has accounts of such violations.
The farmers who don’t have land work on others’ land. As quoted in HRRAC’s report, if (natural) diseases destroy the crops, then, the farmers have to “bear the cost of the damage”, which is even mentioned in the contract. The farmer does not get paid for the days there is no water (drought), either.
Foreign Workers:
Foreign workers are no strangers to the Afghan community. They comprise a big portion of the formal workers in Afghanistan despite the little knowledge of Afghanistan problems, culture and ways of doing business.
Today, every government works hard on providing employment opportunities as unemployment and joblessness has turned out to be a great challenge. Every government prioritizes the employment of its own citizens as a way to tackle this problem. In the United States of America, for example, if an American wants to hire someone offshore, he/she should justify it. One, he/she has to convince the government that the education, expertise and craft of the very individual he/she is hiring is matchless. Two, that the individual he/she is hiring will work at a (very much) lower salary than Americans do. There may be other requirements, but these two are at the top of the list. The question is, does the Afghan government require the Afghans/foreigners who hire Pakistanis, Indians, Chinese and so on to come and work in Afghanistan follow any procedures? Does the Afghan government prioritize the employment of its own citizens? If yes, why do we see so many foreigners prosper in the employment opportunities provided to them, yet our unemployment rate reaches 40%?
Should we take pride in them working in Afghanistan or should we cry at the fate of our poor informal workers? On one hand, the Pakistani government (especially, their police) is not hesitating in performing any inhuman act on Afghans. Afghans are constantly harassed, arrested and beaten in the pretext of their illegal status in Pakistan and involvement in the insurgencies although they have valid Pakistani visas or refugee cards and may have nothing to do with the insurgencies. They are begging for help through Afghan TV channels. On the other hand, it is our “great” and “noble” government who doesn’t even require the Pakistanis to have visas or work permits to work in Afghanistan.
The biggest challenge that these informal workers face is the Afghan government’s negligence. We hope that after reading this article, they will give them attention.
Informal workers are almost unfamiliar to a written contract. As one of the HRRAC interviewees said, their contracts are the word of mouth, which is an acceptable means of contracting and carrying business, but not when this sort of contract is used to misuse the rights of a contracted employee or when work features, such as hours, safety, pay and so on are taken for granted.
Sometimes these verbal or written contracts signed with the informal workers are worse than not having a contract as they clearly violate the rights of the informal workers. HRRAC’s report has accounts of such violations.
The farmers who don’t have land work on others’ land. As quoted in HRRAC’s report, if (natural) diseases destroy the crops, then, the farmers have to “bear the cost of the damage”, which is even mentioned in the contract. The farmer does not get paid for the days there is no water (drought), either.
Foreign Workers:
Foreign workers are no strangers to the Afghan community. They comprise a big portion of the formal workers in Afghanistan despite the little knowledge of Afghanistan problems, culture and ways of doing business.
Today, every government works hard on providing employment opportunities as unemployment and joblessness has turned out to be a great challenge. Every government prioritizes the employment of its own citizens as a way to tackle this problem. In the United States of America, for example, if an American wants to hire someone offshore, he/she should justify it. One, he/she has to convince the government that the education, expertise and craft of the very individual he/she is hiring is matchless. Two, that the individual he/she is hiring will work at a (very much) lower salary than Americans do. There may be other requirements, but these two are at the top of the list. The question is, does the Afghan government require the Afghans/foreigners who hire Pakistanis, Indians, Chinese and so on to come and work in Afghanistan follow any procedures? Does the Afghan government prioritize the employment of its own citizens? If yes, why do we see so many foreigners prosper in the employment opportunities provided to them, yet our unemployment rate reaches 40%?
Should we take pride in them working in Afghanistan or should we cry at the fate of our poor informal workers? On one hand, the Pakistani government (especially, their police) is not hesitating in performing any inhuman act on Afghans. Afghans are constantly harassed, arrested and beaten in the pretext of their illegal status in Pakistan and involvement in the insurgencies although they have valid Pakistani visas or refugee cards and may have nothing to do with the insurgencies. They are begging for help through Afghan TV channels. On the other hand, it is our “great” and “noble” government who doesn’t even require the Pakistanis to have visas or work permits to work in Afghanistan.
The biggest challenge that these informal workers face is the Afghan government’s negligence. We hope that after reading this article, they will give them attention.
Female Informal Workers – Do They Play a Role & Matter?
(Informal Workers – Part III)
Out of the four categories of informal workers, namely, street vendors, construction workers, home-based workers and farmers, most of the female informal workers are home-based working as rug weavers, embroiderers, tailors and so on while a few of them work as farmers, too.
Afghanistan is a country, where the majority of men (and even some women), at the least, do not have a high opinion of female employment. Ironically, the men with such mindset will only use the services of female doctors, nurses, teachers, tailors and midwifes for their female members in their household, which is quite contradicting and speaks for the double standards existent in the society. The lack of positive reception is just the start of a long list of obstacles the 38.2 % of economically active [UNIFEM] Afghan women face. As if the pre-employment and employment challenges were not enough, their work is further undervalued by the reduction of their salaries thrice less than men [UNIFEM] although the Article 22 of the Constitution clearly guarantees the principle of nondiscrimination.
Female informal workers live and work under a more despicable situation than their male counterparts do. According to the HRRAC’s research, having to convince their families to allow them to work alongside men or with men contractors and middlemen, illiteracy, having to cover the cost of production materials, lacking bargaining power and not having a strong representational voice are amongst the other greatest challenges for these workers that are yet to be addressed. On top of that, most of them are widows or have disabled or drug-addict husbands.
Finding work for the female informal workers is by far more taxing than it is for their male counterparts. Men, at least, can freely ask for work, but women have to stick to the people her family knows well, other women or to nearby places that offer jobs/work. According to HRRAC’s recent research “Afghanistan’s Female Home-Based Workers: Isolated and Undervalued”, most female informal workers prefer to be home-based or work close to where they live as their families are not receptive of their female members’ working outside although they may be in dire need of the money they can make. This attitude tightens the already closed circle of employment for them. The lack of employment agencies adds up to the problem.
In addition, when women go out to find market for their products, sell them or ask for work, they are badly treated, as one of the HRRAC interviewees mentioned. They are asked for sexual favors in exchange for money or work, called bad names because they are out of their homes and so on and so forth.
Capacity building initiatives are slow and as NAPWA put it “Capacity building is done on a project basis…[it is] not adopted to the local context or market demands” making it “unsustainable”. “Vocational training for women often focuses on traditional crafts for which there are no profitable markets.” Currently, capacity building programs for these workers is teaching them small-scale crafts just like teaching English and Microsoft Office packages to literate Afghans when the whole world is way beyond these two.
Capacity building for these workers should mean polishing their own abilities and gifting them with new international-standard crafts and trades so that they can think big and look at selling and marketing their work beyond the Afghan borders. However, after taking into account the capacity building efforts of the international community and the Afghan government, one wonders whether they are taking Afghanistan back to the 70’s era or they have realized that it is the 21st century and that they have to stride forward.
Another problem, as one of HRRAC’s research interviewees mentioned, is the spread of warning letters at night, especially in the rural areas, that forces these workers not to work outside. The warning letters are based on the wrong and misleading religious beliefs, so people are scared of the writers and spreaders of such letters and act according to the instructions penned down in the letters. Throwing acid on the faces of the two students in Kandahar, the killing of journalists and other female workers have shaken the confidence of the Afghan female workers a great deal.
Furthermore, domestic violence, which is the fate of almost every woman in Afghanistan, discourages women and compromises the quality of their work. Most of the female informal workers give up education and devote themselves to making money to feed their families by engaging in their crafts and trades. At times, they are the sole breadwinners although neither Islam nor the Afghan culture requires them to work or be the breadwinner. Still, they are subject to the prevalent domestic violence. When we talk about violence against Afghan women, we do not mean just admonishment or verbal abuse through harsh words; we mean physical and psychological violence and even forced marriages. The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) found 50% of its interviewees had experienced some form of domestic violence in an investigation they conducted.
These female informal workers pointed out that the government and the educated and influential women were the only institutions that were responsible to solve their problems (HRRAC). They (female informal workers) knew that they were treated unfairly and their rights were violated, but did not have the know-how to address their issues as most of them were illiterate or not highly educated. In other words, they did not know how change could be introduced, what their rights were and what rights of them were being violated. This leads one to believe that education does not mean being able to read and write. Education means empowerment: to know what your rights are, when your rights are violated and how to fight for your rights in a legally appropriate way. If the constitution of a country gives rights, but the government fails to see those rights observed, respected and obeyed, or the average public does not know what those rights are, then, it is no different than not having rights.
The current situation the Afghan female informal workers are in reminds us the plight of American female factory workers a century ago. Their rights were violated almost in the same vein as the Afghan women’s rights are violated now. However, we hope that it will not take a century before these problems are solved. A new chapter should be started in the Afghan women informal workers lives, too.
In conclusion, the female informal workers work under worse conditions than their male counterparts do. Finding job is a matter of pure lack for most of them. The capacity building programs for them is slow and don’t teach them a trade that can give a face-lift to their businesses. The capacity building programs should be implemented nationwide and on-need-basis. Insecurity and sexual harassments are amongst the major concerns for the ones that have to work outside home. While insecurity is a major issue nationwide and will take a long time before any Afghan enjoys a secure life, the government should take sexual harassment, be it verbal or physical, very seriously so that no one can give them names or want to take advantage of them.
“If a good person who will be just to all Afghans is elected after the elections, then, our problems will be solved” Said one of HRRAC’s female interviewees about the presidential elections. However, with Karzai remaining in the Office for another five years, it is difficult to be optimistic about the future. When the term “remaining in the office” is used for Karzai, it is used in literal terms – he and his appointed ministers and other high-ranking officials rarely get out of their offices to get to know what the people that have voted for them go through. By electing Karzai for the second time, people have to take the blame. His false promises, corrupt government and cunning, nonsensically confident and-never-take-the-blame attitude along with his other “aristocratic” qualities haven’t changed, so a positive change for a neglected portion of the society seems faraway and unlikely.
Through this three-part article, HRRAC has striven to make the Afghan government, the international community, the Lower & Upper House of the Parliament, the labor institutions and the civil society aware of the Afghan informal workers’ plight and hopes that they address their (informal workers) plight and issues soon and find solutions for them.
(Informal Workers – Part III)
Out of the four categories of informal workers, namely, street vendors, construction workers, home-based workers and farmers, most of the female informal workers are home-based working as rug weavers, embroiderers, tailors and so on while a few of them work as farmers, too.
Afghanistan is a country, where the majority of men (and even some women), at the least, do not have a high opinion of female employment. Ironically, the men with such mindset will only use the services of female doctors, nurses, teachers, tailors and midwifes for their female members in their household, which is quite contradicting and speaks for the double standards existent in the society. The lack of positive reception is just the start of a long list of obstacles the 38.2 % of economically active [UNIFEM] Afghan women face. As if the pre-employment and employment challenges were not enough, their work is further undervalued by the reduction of their salaries thrice less than men [UNIFEM] although the Article 22 of the Constitution clearly guarantees the principle of nondiscrimination.
Female informal workers live and work under a more despicable situation than their male counterparts do. According to the HRRAC’s research, having to convince their families to allow them to work alongside men or with men contractors and middlemen, illiteracy, having to cover the cost of production materials, lacking bargaining power and not having a strong representational voice are amongst the other greatest challenges for these workers that are yet to be addressed. On top of that, most of them are widows or have disabled or drug-addict husbands.
Finding work for the female informal workers is by far more taxing than it is for their male counterparts. Men, at least, can freely ask for work, but women have to stick to the people her family knows well, other women or to nearby places that offer jobs/work. According to HRRAC’s recent research “Afghanistan’s Female Home-Based Workers: Isolated and Undervalued”, most female informal workers prefer to be home-based or work close to where they live as their families are not receptive of their female members’ working outside although they may be in dire need of the money they can make. This attitude tightens the already closed circle of employment for them. The lack of employment agencies adds up to the problem.
In addition, when women go out to find market for their products, sell them or ask for work, they are badly treated, as one of the HRRAC interviewees mentioned. They are asked for sexual favors in exchange for money or work, called bad names because they are out of their homes and so on and so forth.
Capacity building initiatives are slow and as NAPWA put it “Capacity building is done on a project basis…[it is] not adopted to the local context or market demands” making it “unsustainable”. “Vocational training for women often focuses on traditional crafts for which there are no profitable markets.” Currently, capacity building programs for these workers is teaching them small-scale crafts just like teaching English and Microsoft Office packages to literate Afghans when the whole world is way beyond these two.
Capacity building for these workers should mean polishing their own abilities and gifting them with new international-standard crafts and trades so that they can think big and look at selling and marketing their work beyond the Afghan borders. However, after taking into account the capacity building efforts of the international community and the Afghan government, one wonders whether they are taking Afghanistan back to the 70’s era or they have realized that it is the 21st century and that they have to stride forward.
Another problem, as one of HRRAC’s research interviewees mentioned, is the spread of warning letters at night, especially in the rural areas, that forces these workers not to work outside. The warning letters are based on the wrong and misleading religious beliefs, so people are scared of the writers and spreaders of such letters and act according to the instructions penned down in the letters. Throwing acid on the faces of the two students in Kandahar, the killing of journalists and other female workers have shaken the confidence of the Afghan female workers a great deal.
Furthermore, domestic violence, which is the fate of almost every woman in Afghanistan, discourages women and compromises the quality of their work. Most of the female informal workers give up education and devote themselves to making money to feed their families by engaging in their crafts and trades. At times, they are the sole breadwinners although neither Islam nor the Afghan culture requires them to work or be the breadwinner. Still, they are subject to the prevalent domestic violence. When we talk about violence against Afghan women, we do not mean just admonishment or verbal abuse through harsh words; we mean physical and psychological violence and even forced marriages. The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) found 50% of its interviewees had experienced some form of domestic violence in an investigation they conducted.
These female informal workers pointed out that the government and the educated and influential women were the only institutions that were responsible to solve their problems (HRRAC). They (female informal workers) knew that they were treated unfairly and their rights were violated, but did not have the know-how to address their issues as most of them were illiterate or not highly educated. In other words, they did not know how change could be introduced, what their rights were and what rights of them were being violated. This leads one to believe that education does not mean being able to read and write. Education means empowerment: to know what your rights are, when your rights are violated and how to fight for your rights in a legally appropriate way. If the constitution of a country gives rights, but the government fails to see those rights observed, respected and obeyed, or the average public does not know what those rights are, then, it is no different than not having rights.
The current situation the Afghan female informal workers are in reminds us the plight of American female factory workers a century ago. Their rights were violated almost in the same vein as the Afghan women’s rights are violated now. However, we hope that it will not take a century before these problems are solved. A new chapter should be started in the Afghan women informal workers lives, too.
In conclusion, the female informal workers work under worse conditions than their male counterparts do. Finding job is a matter of pure lack for most of them. The capacity building programs for them is slow and don’t teach them a trade that can give a face-lift to their businesses. The capacity building programs should be implemented nationwide and on-need-basis. Insecurity and sexual harassments are amongst the major concerns for the ones that have to work outside home. While insecurity is a major issue nationwide and will take a long time before any Afghan enjoys a secure life, the government should take sexual harassment, be it verbal or physical, very seriously so that no one can give them names or want to take advantage of them.
“If a good person who will be just to all Afghans is elected after the elections, then, our problems will be solved” Said one of HRRAC’s female interviewees about the presidential elections. However, with Karzai remaining in the Office for another five years, it is difficult to be optimistic about the future. When the term “remaining in the office” is used for Karzai, it is used in literal terms – he and his appointed ministers and other high-ranking officials rarely get out of their offices to get to know what the people that have voted for them go through. By electing Karzai for the second time, people have to take the blame. His false promises, corrupt government and cunning, nonsensically confident and-never-take-the-blame attitude along with his other “aristocratic” qualities haven’t changed, so a positive change for a neglected portion of the society seems faraway and unlikely.
Through this three-part article, HRRAC has striven to make the Afghan government, the international community, the Lower & Upper House of the Parliament, the labor institutions and the civil society aware of the Afghan informal workers’ plight and hopes that they address their (informal workers) plight and issues soon and find solutions for them.
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1. http://afghanism.blogspot.com/
2. http://loveinmyperspective.blogspot.com/
3. http://6yjokes.blogspot.com/
4. http://afghansingers.blogspot.com/
5. http://innercalls.blogspot.com/
6. http://afgiw.blogspot.com/
7. http://afgman.blogspot.com/
8. http://afgsecurity.blogspot.com/
9. http://theindianvisa.blogspot.com/
10. http://nazeerstory.blogspot.com/
11. http://ustadrasool.blogspot.com/
