Quarter of Afghan Children Forced to Work

UNICEF is urging the Afghan government to sign and ratify two conventions of the International Labor Organization: one concerns the minimum employment age and the other addresses hazardous work.

Still, many children are forced to work because of the lack of educational opportunities. Girls' schools in particular have been targeted by Taliban insurgents. Teachers and parents who chose to educate girls have been targeted -- including a girls' school headmaster who was murdered in her home earlier this month -- as well as students. Last week, two gunmen opened fire outside a girls' school, killing two students and wounding six others.