Afghanistan: Foreign aid groups cease operations after Taliban ban on female staff

• 5 NGOs halted operations in Afghanistan due to ban on women.
• Women’s right are suppressed by Taliban.
• Women have been denied access to parks and gyms.

Five prestigious non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have halted operations in Afghanistan after the Taliban forbade women from working with them.

Without their “female personnel,” Care International, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), and Save the Children stated that they could not continue their work.

The International Rescue Committee likewise halted operations, while Islamic Relief announced it was ceasing the majority of its operations.

Afghan government Women’s rights have been systematically suppressed by the Taliban.

The Taliban’s recent prohibition on women attending universities was followed just a few days later by an order regarding NGOs.

The Taliban’s ministry of economy’s spokesman, Abdel Rahman Habib, said that female employees of the international assistance organisations were in violation of dress standards because they were not donning hijabs.

Any organisation that did not immediately abide by the restriction would risk having its licence revoked, according to the Taliban.

Since then, a number of assistance organisations have intervened and demanded that women be let to continue working for them.

In a joint statement, the heads of Care, the NRC, and Save the Children said that without their female employees, their organisations “would not have collectively reached millions of Afghans in need since August 2021.”

In order to get more information about this announcement, they said in their statement, “We are stopping our programmes and demanding that men and women may equally continue our lifesaving help in Afghanistan.”

Separately, the International Rescue Committee (IRC), which employs 3,000 women across Afghanistan, claimed that without “female workers at all levels of our organisation,” they would not be able to provide services to “those in need.”

Islamic Relief announced that it had made the “tough choice to temporarily cease non-lifesaving activities in Afghanistan,” including “programmes that support poor families in earning a living as well as education and some healthcare projects.” It further stated that life-saving medical care would continue.

Islamic Relief said it was urging the Afghan government to quickly repeal the prohibition on female NGO employees.

“Millions of hapless men, women, and kids across the nation would suffer horrendous humanitarian effects as a result of the ban. We are shocked that this decision was made so soon after there were tighter limitations placed on Afghan girls’ access to education.”

The chief humanitarian coordinator for the UN, Ramiz Alakbarov, declared that the restriction was a “red line for the whole humanitarian community” and that the UN was working to have it lifted.

If the Taliban authorities do not change their order restricting women aid workers, the United Nations might discontinue providing humanitarian help in Afghanistan.

But according to Mr. Alakbarov, it is still not apparent what the Taliban intended by their proclamation.

He said that the Taliban’s minister of health had instructed the UN that women could “report to work and discharge their services” and that the organisation should continue its work in the field of health.

He noted that other ministries have also spoken with the UN directly to request that work on emergency preparedness and disaster management continue.

Nearly 500 of the 1,400 employees of the assistance organisation are women, according to Jan Egeland of the NRC, and the female staff has been conducting business “according to all customary principles, dress code, mobility, [and] separation of offices.”

He expressed his hope that the decision will be “reversed in the next few days” and issued a dire warning that if NGOs’ work was hindered, millions would suffer.

NGOs have voiced alarm over the ban’s potential impact on employment “in the midst of a tremendous economic crisis”.

One enquired, “If I can’t go to work, who will take care of my family?” Another earner of the family’s living described the revelation as “shocked” and said she had adhered to the Taliban’s rigorous dress rule.

The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that the restriction would “disrupt crucial and life-saving aid to millions” after the embargo sparked a global outrage.

Despite pledging that their government would be more moderate than the one that existed in the 1990s, the Taliban have systematically weakened women’s rights since regaining control of the nation last year.

In addition to the prohibitions on NGO employees and female university students, which are now being enforced by armed guards, secondary schools for girls are still shut down in the majority of regions.

In addition, women have been denied access to parks and gyms, among other public spaces.

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