MAIMANA (SW) – Economic hardships are taking its toll on the residents of Faryab, particularly the daily wagers who are struggling to make ends meet.
Most of them say they go to the intersections of the city in the morning so that maybe someone will take them to work and they can earn a bite of bread for their children, but most days they return home empty handed.
37-year-old Najibullah, a resident of Maimana city, Faryab center, who is the head of a family of eight, says that he does not have enough money to start a business for himself, so he has to work as a daily wage worker to provide for his family’s needs. He adds: “We have to do whatever it takes to bring home a piece of bread. The daily wage of a worker is 300 afghanis, a businessman has a wage of 700 to 800 afghanis. If one day there is some work, another day is not work. We always live without food.”
Sultan Ahmad, a young man in Faryab, who also works to support himself and his family, says with concern that many young people in this province have dropped out of school due to unemployment and migrated to neighboring countries. He adds: “I am the head of my family, my father is old and cannot work. We are eight breadwinners, but one day I work and one day there is no work. From 250 to 300 afghanis is the labor wage. I also abandoned my studies and education.”
The residents of Faryab want the caretaker government to provide them with a working environment by activating factories and launching infrastructure projects and also encouraging national businessmen to invest in the country.
Meanwhile, the officials of Faryab Department of Labor and Social Affairs also acknowledge that the residents of this province, especially the daily workers, have been facing the problem of unemployment for years and most of them have migrated to other countries for work.
Rihanuddin Mutawakkul, the head of labor and social afaffair department, says that efforts are underway to provide work to the residents of this province. He emphasized that the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, in coordination with the Ministry of Economy, has new solutions in the field of entrepreneurship for citizens inside the country. He says: “We will share this problem with the officials of the relevant departments in order to provide work for those who are facing economic problems. God willing, with the start of mining by the government, some of the economic problems of the people will be solved.”
With the political changes in the country and the reduction of international aid to Afghanistan, the scope of unemployment and poverty has widened. The United Nations has also expressed concern about the spread of poverty and hunger in Afghanistan in its latest reports
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