Six NGOs suspend operations after ban on women’s humanitarian work – Over 38 million people in need of humanitarian aid during winter
Two other non-governmental organisations, Christian Aid and ActionAid, announced on Monday that they were suspending their operations in Afghanistan after the Taliban banned women from working in the humanitarian sector, bringing to six the number of NGOs that have made such announcements.
Afghanistan’s economy ministry ordered all non-governmental organizations on Saturday to stop employing women or risk having their licenses revoked. It was not specified whether this directive also applies to foreign female workers in NGOs.
In a letter to local and international NGOs, the Afghan ministry explained that it took the decision after receiving “serious complaints” that women working in them do not wear the “Islamic hijab”.
“ActionAid has taken the difficult decision to temporarily suspend the majority of its programs in Afghanistan” until the situation is clarified, the non-governmental organization said in a statement, in which it hoped to be able to reverse the measure “as soon as possible”. .
Lamenting the “gradual erosion” of women’s rights in the country, the NGO, which employs 97 women in Afghanistan, denounced the “catastrophic consequences” of the Taliban’s decision.
“Women are important in any humanitarian operation,” let alone in Afghanistan where “only women can interact with other women.”
According to the UN and aid organizations, more than 38 million Afghans are in need of humanitarian aid during the winter.
Read about: UN: Revoke the decision to exclude women from NGOs
Christian Aid said it was seeking “quick clarification” on the Taliban’s announcement and was “calling on the authorities to withdraw this ban”, according to a statement from Christian Aid, which is in charge, Ray Hassan. of mco for this area.
In the meantime, “unfortunately we will be shutting down our programs,” he notes.
“Banning women from humanitarian work will only reduce our ability to help the growing number of people in need and risks exacerbating the dire humanitarian crisis faced by women and young girls,” she adds.
“Furthermore, this decision will deeply upset families who depend on the income of women working in humanitarian organizations in the context of the severe economic crisis facing Afghanistan,” he continued.
The Christian Aid official also points out that “millions of people” are “on the brink of starvation” in the country to such an extent that there are reports that families “are so desperate they have been forced to sell their children to buy food”.
On Sunday, three NGOs — Save the Children, Norwegian Refugee Council and CARE International — jointly announced the suspension of their operations in Afghanistan, followed by the International Rescue Committee (IRC).
In recent months, the cordon around women in Afghanistan has been tightening. The Taliban, who returned to power in August 2021, banned them less than a week ago from attending public and private universities for the same reasons of not respecting the dress code. They had also already excluded girls from secondary schools.
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