Poverty Reduction and Community-Based Social Protection in Afghanistan

Promoting social cohesion, employment and decent work- support for social inclusion and social protection of workers in the informal economy and of vulnerable groups at community level in Herat, Afghanistan

Khatera: from illiteracy and pistachio shelling to wedding flower making and literacy program

25 year old widow with 5 children Pistachio-sheller, making 20 afs(0.33

cents) per kg shelled (2-4 days) Illiterate Renting a small room inside a housing

quarter Married twice, 1st time as a child of 11 yrs Her oldest son was the main income

provider, working at a restaurant for 41euro per month, until he was fired

1st husband died of old age, had one son with him who’s 14 now

2nd husband is 40 years older than her, recently left her when pregnant with the baby in her arms for he could not support the family

New flower making income 2.50 Euro per day versus 0.16-0.33 Euro cents shelling pistachios

Herat, Afghanistan

- 2nd largest city in Afghanistan, located in the north western part of the country, bordering Iran.

- Population of 1.7 million people (2011 data)

- Considered one of the safest provinces, Afghans around the country or living as refugee in other countries especially Iran, move to the city of Herat seeking safety and work opportunities

Constraints within the Afghan context

Instability and insecurity due to the war The war eroded trust, people do not trust each other and

development organizations, especially ones with international staff

The war has erased long-term goal planning, people seek short-term solutions

Beneficiaries interest in joining the program is cash incentives and in kind donations (food rations, equipment) and drop out when they realize there are no cash incentives

Beneficiaries depend on subsistence IGA The private sector is just as informal as the informal sector Genders are strongly segregated Women have no business walking the streets, men own

businesses and run errands Women depend on a ‘maharam’ to walk the streets Not acceptable for male trainers to teach women Not acceptable for men to work in training centers where

women are beneficiaries The poorest are especially uninterested in having women

become educated, they see no benefit in it No ID cards, no idea what age they really are and if they do

have an ID these often have wrong information esp. age

Empowerment methodology designed for target groups

3-yr program, 1 full program per year, 3 rounds of beneficiaries; focus to educate children, their siblings and mother throughout the 3 yr program to strengthen the family as a whole

4 resource centers: 2 for children and youth, 2 for women and ECCD classes within their districts

Literacy and numeracy program for women and youth

Educational training for female and male children in preparation to take school entrance exams

Placing of street working children into schools once they pass the school entrance exam A program in place to ensure children remain in

school Life skills training for women, children and youth

Classes focus on decision making ECCD program for women’s children ages 4-6 yrs old Business training focused on entrepreneurship for

women and youth Business plan writing Access to a livelihoods grant based on the business

plan the beneficiary put together

Profile of the target Groups All groups: women, children and

youth:

Vulnerable groups within three of the poorest districts of Herat: district 2, 7 and 10

Vulnerable families which moved to the city seeking employment and safety

Families coming in from other provinces running away from the war (IDPs)

Families coming from remote communities within Herat province

Returned refugees from Iran

Street working children or at high risk of becoming street working children

Women, children and youth at the bottom of the value chain; earning the lowest wages within the informal economy

Women, girls and female youth who are homebound, working on income generating activities at home while taking care of children, elderly relatives and in-laws

Male children and youth forced to work selling on the streets or as apprentices, many times sole providers for the family

Female girls and youth profile: Girls ages 7-13 years old and

female youth 14-17 years old who have never been allowed to attend school and are forced to share the burden of household responsibilities

Engaged to relatives or men who have paid a dowry to their parents

Responsible to take care of siblings, and doing household chores Esp. arduous labor under harsh

weather conditions: hauling water in buckets from distant places, scavenging dumps, herding sheep

Working at home with their mothers on the lowest paid income generating activities: Shelling pistachios at 0.30-0.50

Euro cents per kilo, the labor of 2-4 days

Cleaning wool at .40 Euro cents per kilo, , the labor of 2-4 days

Washing laundry at 1.61 to 2.41 Euro per day ( laundry pick up, washing, drying, ironing, drop off, water and detergent)

Girls and female youth attending class at resource centre for youth

Boys and male youth attending youth training centers

Profile of the target groups: Male children and youth beneficiaries

Boys and male youth who are illiterate Boys ages 7-13 years old and male youth 14-17

years old who cannot attend school due to work responsibilities (dropouts or never attended)

Boys and male youth who work on the street selling goods, offering services (shoe shining), scavenging trash seeking recyclables ( bottles, cartons)

Boys and male youth taken on as apprentices in carpentry shops, metal-work shops, tailoring shops, etc.

Boys and male youth earning $1 or less per day working on the streets and $20-40 a month as apprentices

Boys who are main bread winners in the home, father is elderly or has passed away

Women beneficiaries attending women’s training centers

Profile of the target populations: women beneficiaries

No education, none or limited vocational skills Husbands are usually relatives as the men cannot afford paying dowries thus

marry within the family; this leads to a high incidence of physical and mental illnesses in their offspring

Forced into arranged marriages at an average age of 12-14, sometimes engaged below age 10 to men 20-60 years older than them Husbands develop age-related illnesses or become handicapped from

arduous labor in their youth Husbands are unable to provide for their wives and children due to their old

age, illnesses, and handicaps There is a high percentage of young widows left with many children to raise

and support on their own Women are expected to only work at home, taking care of children,

husbands, in-laws and taking on the lowest paid income generating activities: Shelling pistachios at 0.30-0.50 Euro cents per kilo, the labor of 2-4 days Cleaning wool at .40 Euro cents per kilo, , the labor of 2-4 days Washing laundry at 1.61 to 2.41 Euro per day ( laundry pick up, washing,

drying, ironing, drop off, water and detergent) Other labor intensive work with low wages: hand-embroidery and carpet

weaving (months to produce with no profit)

Key partnerships to support target groups and develop sustainability models

Government institutions: DoLSA (The department of

Labor and social affairs) CPAN (Child Protection

and Action Network) Department of Education

Department of Literacy and Numeracy

Department of Economy Non-state actors:

Local employers (formal and informal)

Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission

World Food Programme DAC (Danish Afghan

Committee) World Vision

Elected community leaders

Shura leaders

Religious leaders (Mullahs)

Non-state actors which are EC funded HELP International,

vocational training Handicap International,

training on how to work with handicapped people within livelihood projects

Empowerment tools Women

First time access to a classroom and teachers for most of them

Daily opportunity to meet with other women and exchange information, ideas, and have discussions

Opportunity to learn about business directly Access to a livelihoods grant/toolkit to support an IGA within

the family Opportunity to learn about social protection and together

design SPM suitable for their communities

Youth First time access to a classroom and teacher Opportunity to learn about business directly Access to a livelihoods grant/toolkit to support an IGA within

the family

Children Preparation course to take school entrance exams Opportunity to attend school once he/she takes passes the

entrance exam Strong program to ensure children remain in school

(outreach work, strengthening of PTAs, SMCs)

Sustainability of target populations

Through direct training of vulnerable target groups: women, youth and children

Through direct empowerment of beneficiaries in the classroom (business plan writing, decision-making lessons)

Through partnerships with non-state actors and governmental entities to seek further support and service provision for target groups

Through partnerships with the private sector (e.g. Mr. Rayabee, wedding flower business owner)

Through capacity building of community and religious leaders on how to revive and develop effective social protection mechanisms (empowered to attend CPAN meetings and introduce cases within their community, seeking support)

Through round-tables with employers to synthesize about worker’s rights and the Afghan labor law