Handicap International experience in Afghanistan - CBM

to others: usually they benefit from a monthly wage and they have well-defined working conditions: fixedworking hours, fixed wage, specific tasks and working location. The rest of the active employed people cometo 30.0% and have a more precarious working status: family helpers, seasonal and occasional workers, anddaily/weekly wage workers 35 . Only 0.1% of active Afghans employ other people in their business, whichbarely represents a few thousand people.Figure 35: Distribution of Active People Age 15-64 by Employment Status4035• Persons with Disability• Non-Disabled302520151050Landowner/MortgagerDaily/WeeklyWage WorkerSelfEmployedContractWorkerFamilyHelperOccasionalWorkerApprenticeA multitude of professions exists in Afghanistan. Dozens of professions were identified during the survey.Nevertheless, the most common profession is farming (40.2%). Farmers are usually owners of their landor rent a piece of land from someone against part of the crop or/and a rent. Shepherds and labourers areother professionals of the agricultural sector, which represents almost 45% of all actives in Afghanistan.Non-disabledpersonsconstitute alarger proportionof landownersor mortgagers,while personswith disabilityare more oftenoccasionalworkersWorkers in the construction sector represent almost 10% of all active people. The importance of the reconstructioneffort since the end of 2001 explains why many people find a job in building activities. People with a smallcapital open shop of various kinds and do small trade. The wealthiest open a shop (7.2% of actives); the poorestare street vendors (2.5%). Peace is also characterised by the renewal of travel and exchanges. A large part oftransportation of goods and persons is done by road in a country where there is no railway and air transport isexpensive. As a result the profession of driver is quite common: 4.1% of the labour force.The government has become an important employer. The huge effort made in the education sector is evidentconsidering the high number of teachers (3.2%). This profession is in rapid progress, not only in public schools,but also in a flourishing sector of private schools and vocational training centres (often run by NGOs) in manydisciplines: languages (mainly English), computer skills, trade, craft, tailoring, secretarial skills, etc. Another3% are civil servants in ministries, provincial departments, and other government offices. The security needsin the country explain that security services represent almost 2% of the active labour force.When they have work, persons with disability occupy jobs that have more or less a similar status as thenon-disabled. Persons with disability are less present in professions requiring physical strength, of course:farmers, construction workers, drivers, mechanics... Yet they are in significantly higher proportion workingas street vendors, shopkeepers and other little jobs, with unstable wages and no status. Non-disabledpersons constitute a larger proportion of landowners or mortgagers, while persons with disabilityare more often occasional workers. Persons with disability are also in slightly higher proportion in selfemployedactivities, which is often the term used for shopkeepers or street vendors.35A daily/weekly wage-worker is usually employed for a very short period of time (often on a daily basis) without any contractspecification. The persons can be a daily/weekly wage worker.48 Understanding the Challenge Ahead