IRIN
AFGHANISTAN: ILO to tackle unemployment
6 December 2004


[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

KABUL, 6 December (IRIN) - New centres will be established in Afghanistan
to tackle unemployment and provide training opportunities for unqualified
job seekers, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) announced on
Sunday in the capital, Kabul.

The issue of unemployment is very serious in Afghanistan as many people
lack skills due to more than 20 years of conflict. For example, widespread
illiteracy, at over 70 percent of the population, is a major cause of high
unemployment.

The demand for work is clear to see at the crowded roundabout at
Kot-e-Sangi on the outskirts of Kabul - an informal labour market in the
area. Hundreds of daily labourers gather around people who occasionally
come to pick up workers they need.

"This is the capital and you can guess [what it is like in] the provinces.
All of these people gather here every morning expecting to find daily
labour and earn some bread and tea for the family meal," Mohammad Kabir, a
35-year-old ex-civil servant told IRIN. He waited until midday before
finding half a day's work.

Kabir was sacked from the government in a reform process as he did not
have up-to-date skills. "In this country if you don't know English and how
to work a computer you are not qualified for any job," he said.

The ex-civil servant said labour wages were less than US $2 per day and as
the weather was getting cold he often did not find work because
construction slows down during this season.

While the problem is increasing with the return of hundreds of thousands
of Afghan refugees from neighbouring Pakistan and Iran, the ILO and the
Afghan Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MLSA) are expecting to
tackle unemployment through the newly initiated Employment Services
Centres (ESC) that will be established in nine Afghan cities.

"The project is significant to post-conflict Afghanistan, as unemployment
is high. In contributing to the reduction of unemployment, we will be able
to contribute to the reduction of poverty, which in turn may be a
contribution to the stabilisation of Afghanistan," Gregor Schulz, ILO
chief technical adviser for the ESC project, told IRIN in Kabul.

Schulz said unemployment in Afghanistan was estimated to be around 30
percent, with another 30 percent working part-time or in jobs they are
overqualified for. The main challenge is to build up a proper education
and vocational training system that provides the skills demanded on the
labour market, he added.

The first ESC centre was established in the capital earlier this year.
Nearly 1,000 job seekers and 300-350 vacancies have been referred to the
centre in the first three months of establishment. "Out of these we have
confirmed about 10 to 15 percent placement which is not so bad in the
beginning," the UN agency's chief adviser noted.

The other eight centres will be established in the next 12 months in major
cities of the country. ESCs are also expected to create a database on
training providers for those out of work.

"So it [ESC] is a mixture of job placement services, referral services to
vocational training and a labour market information database that is to be
established," Schulz explained.

However, a senior civil servant at MLSA, who declined to be named, told
IRIN that the unemployment rate would further rise as the new government
was planning to merge several ministries, which would cause thousands of
job losses. "This will affect Kabul and the provinces and the government
should tackle this in advance," he maintained.

But the ILO is optimistic that the situation for creating and finding jobs
in Afghanistan is favourable as the reconstruction process is in full
swing and there are jobs available in construction, transport, finance and
trade.


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Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2004


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