Microsoft Word - AMICS-29Jan2013 - Childinfo.org

The births of 37% of children under five years of age in Afghanistan have been registered (Table
11.1). There are no significant variations in birth registration between boys (38%) and girls
(37%), however there are significant variances observed by the age of the child, the mother s
education level, residence, region and household socio-economic status.
Children aged four years (35%) have the lowest rate of registered births, while children aged
one year have the highest registration rate. About 67% of children whose mother has
secondary education or higher had their children s births registered, almost double that of
mothers with no education, wherein only 36% of births were registered. Children living in rural
areas (33%) are about two times less likely to have their births registered than their
counterparts in urban areas (60%). Children in the South East region (19%) are more than three
times less likely to have their births registered than children in the Central region (60%). There
are also regional disparities in the percentage of mothers/caretakers who know how to register
a birth. For instance, 12% of mothers/caretakers in the East region know how to register a
birth, while it is less than 1% in the South region. For mothers/caretakers with no education,
5% know how to register a birth, compared to 12% of mothers with secondary education or
higher. Children living in the poorest households (31%) are significantly less likely to have their
births registered than their counterparts living in the wealthiest households (58%).
Child Labour
Article 32 of the CRC states that States Parties recognize the right of the child to be
protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be
hazardous or to interfere with the child's education, or to be harmful to the child's health or
physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development. Further, the MDGs call for the
protection of children against exploitation.
In the AMICS questionnaire, a number of questions addressed the issue of child labour, that is,
of children 5-14 years of age involved in labour activities. A child is considered to be involved in
child labour activities at the time of the survey if during the week preceding the survey:
A child aged 5-11 engaged in at least one hour of economic activity or 28 or more
hours of domestic work per week.
A child aged 12-14 engaged in at least 14 hours of economic activity or 28 hours or
more of domestic work per week.
This definition is based on the International Labour Organization s definition of child labour.
The term child labour is often defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, their
potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to children s physical and mental development. It
refers to work that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to
children; and interferes with their schooling by depriving them of the opportunity to attend
school; obliging them to leave school prematurely; or requiring them to attempt to combine
school attendance with excessively long and heavy work.
The estimate provided below is a minimum of the prevalence of child labour since some
children may be involved in hazardous labour activities for a number of hours that could be less
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