An Indian NGO is working towards eradication of child labour in Afghanistan and providing educational opportunities to them.
Good Weave India, an NGO, founded in 1994 by Human Rights activist Kailash Satyarthi aims to eradicate child labour from the carpet industry in Afghanistan.
It started working in Afghanistan in 2011 to rescue child workers from the carpet industry.
Carpet weaving is done in closed doors by women and children and it is challenging for social workers to get access to these families.
The mission informs the consumers and cultivates demands for child labour free rugs, harnessing market forces to motivate the producers to forego child servitude.
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Home based schools are opened for children by engaging local volunteers after educating the family.
The programme also invests in prevention strategies like day care for weavers' children and workers' health and safety awareness initiatives.
"We do not want the carpet sector to ruin the future of the children by engaging them and blocking the education opportunities for the poor people in the Afghan families. The Good Weave has entered in Afghanistan in 2011 with an intention that carpet weaving and carpet business which is one of the biggest revenue earners in Afghanistan becomes the backbone in rebuilding Afghanistan," said Manoj Bhatt, Country Director, Good Weave.
The NGO is not only working to eradicate child labour, but is also running programmes for women empowerment, better job prospects, working conditions and wages.
"Good Weave has decided to work in Afghanistan and the work so far has been very successful in terms of motivating families to educate their children. In terms of the suppliers the manufacturers in terms of their work and providing better opportunities for their workers and also encouraging their workers to send their kids to school," added Bhatt.
Good Weave faces many challenges while working in war-torn Afghanistan, but they are committed to help in creating better living for children.
"We face lot of problems in terms of the security concerns but we have mostly employed local youths, educated youths who have the dedication for the development for their country for rebuilding Afghanistan. Because of their dedication and their hard work we are able to reach the communities who were not educating their kids through formal and informal education system," Bhatt further added.
According to an estimate, more than 42 percent of children in Afghanistan do not attend school.
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