The United Nations announced on Wednesday 28 December that it had suspended certain aid programs in Afghanistan. This is the result of the Taliban’s decision to ban women from working in NGOs, including foreign humanitarian organizations.
A joint statement on this was issued by the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffithsthe heads of UNICEF, the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Development Program and the United Nations High Commissioners for Refugees and Human Rights.
“Barring women from humanitarian work has immediate and life-threatening consequences for all Afghans. Already, some vital programs have had to be temporarily halted due to a lack of female staff,” the statement said.
“No country can afford to exclude half of its population from social participation,” he added.
Twelve countries and the European Union have also called for the ban to be lifted.
Crisis in Afghanistan
Afghanistan is currently facing a huge humanitarian crisis. The UN stresses that the decision to ban the employment of women in humanitarian organizations “comes at a time when more than 28 million people in Afghanistan (…) need help to survive as the country struggles. in the face of famine, economic collapse, entrenched poverty and a brutal winter”. “.
At the same time, the United Nations and humanitarian organizations reaffirmed their determination to provide independent and life-saving assistance to all women, men and children in need.
A similar statement was also issued jointly by Save the Children, the Norwegian Refugee Council and CARE International, operating in Afghanistan.
“Without our female staff, we cannot effectively reach the children, women and men who desperately need it,” they wrote.
Violation of the ban on women working in non-governmental organizations is punishable by the withdrawal of authorization to do business in Afghanistan.
