More than one-third of children surveyed in Afghanistan are pushed into work to help their families, two years after the Taliban regained control of the country.

Kabul.- The NGO Save the Children interviewed an estimated 1,207 adults and 1,205 children in the country’s six provinces and stated that 38.4 percent of the minors polled have been pushed into work, and 12.5 percent of households reported having children migrating for work.

The International Labor Organization (ILO), in turn, estimates that one in ten Afghan children has been forced to work.

Arshad Malik, Country Director for Save the Children in Afghanistan, warned that “the fact that children are being pushed into unsafe practices such as labor and migration should send shockwaves around the world.”

Hunger is also a constant feature, to the point that 76.1 percent of children said they are eating less than a year ago, partly due to the country’s worst drought in three decades.

The drought has impacted 58 percent of households, the NGO stated.

Save the Children called on the international community to restore humanitarian aid to Afghanistan and to prioritize children’s rights, especially girls’ right to education. (PL)