Daily wage workers faced with hunger

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KABUL (SW) – A number of daily wage workers in Kabul say that they are fed up with poverty and unemployment and return home empty-handed three or four days a week.

Complaining about the persistence of this situation, they say that they have had to borrow money to meet the food and clothing needs of their families.

Shafiullah, a resident of Kabul who heads a family of four, told Salam Watandar that he can find work only one or two days a week, which cannot provide the food needs of his family. According to him, in order to provide food for his family, he has to borrow money from his relatives.

“I have to borrow from my relatives to meet the food needs of my family. When our debts increase, they won’t lend us any more.”

Ismail, a resident of Baghlan, who came to Kabul as a laborer to earn a livelihood for his family, said that most days he has to borrow money from his friends and relatives for his food. “Here (in Kabul) I am also unemployed for several days and I have to borrow from others to live my daily life.”

Officials at the Ministry of Economy say that they have plans in place to reduce poverty and unemployment in the country.

Abdurrahman Habib, the spokesman of this ministry, said: “Stabilization for the growth of the country’s gross production, investment in projects that reduce poverty, and also supporting the agriculture, industry and mining sectors to create employment are among our priorities.”

It should be noted that the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid (OCHA) said that the amount of debts of Afghan citizens due to poverty and unemployment has increased by 50% compared to 2019. This organization added that in 2019, each family owed an average of nine thousand and 770 afghani, but in 2022, this figure will reach 60,000 afghanis.

ENDS

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