War, corruption swell number of Afghan street kids

In Afghanistan, at least 600,000 street children have no safety net to catch them. The problem, experts say, is getting worse because of the deepening war and the scourge of corruption, despite the inflow of more than $35 billion from foreign donors since the Taliban were removed from power in 2001. The dangers for children are many, they say: from drugs to the insurgency, from criminal gangs to sexual abuse. "Poverty is getting worse in Afghanistan and children are forced to find work," said Shafiqa Zaher, a social worker with Aschiana, the group receiving U.S. aid for its work. A study by the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission in 2008 found around 60,000 minors involved in child labor in Kabul alone. A United Nations report said in March that entrenched corruption was leaving the poor at the mercy of the powerful while security-obsessed foreign forces turn a blind eye.