The Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled (MoLSAMD) on Wednesday said that World Bank statistics show that more than two million Afghans who are eligible for work are either jobless or having no proper employment. 
 
Meanwhile, the head of The International Labor Organization (ILO) in Afghanistan has asked the Afghan government to search for new ways to overcome the issue of unemployment in the country. 
 
The remarks were made during a meeting between representatives of government and the ILO with the participation of a number of entrepreneurs and employment supporting institutions. 
 
“If we curb the scale of unemployment in the country, this will help to decrease the gap between the people and the government and the economy will improve,” said Maroof Qaeri, head of the labor union.
 
“Afghanistan needs to organize national meetings on the issue of unemployment every year once or twice to seek ways on how to overcome the issue of unemployment,” said Manzoor Khaliqi, head of ILO in Afghanistan. 
 
The Minister of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled said that unemployment is one of the biggest problems, but added that government is focused on investing in development projects and infrastructure to decrease the scale of unemployment.
 
He said that on average, more than 400,000 newcomers enter the work market in Afghanistan each year.
 
“There is the problem of entrepreneurship, but the private sector is the important platform in the employment sector, the government must take steps to expand the activities of the private sector in the country,” said acting minister of labor Faizullah Zaki.
 
Meanwhile, a number of laborers in Kabul have said that government does not have any comprehensive plan to create jobs and decrease unemployment.
 
“Every day we wait here till 4pm and return home with a lot of shame, what should we do,” said laborer Juma Khan.
 
This comes at a time that the leaders of the national unity government have persistently promised the Afghan public over the past three years that they will start mega projects in the country to overcome the issue of unemployment.