The Taliban’s ban on women working for NGOs has affected vital aid to Afghans

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Last June, a team of female doctors and nurses drove six hours through mountains, dry riverbeds and unpaved roads to reach victims of the devastating earthquake that had just struck eastern Afghanistan, killing more than 1,000 people.

Key points: The Taliban banned women from working for NGOs last month, agencies providing food and health services closed due to the ban, and some warned the move would lead to widespread health problems and starvation.

When they got there, the day after the earthquake, they found that the men had been treated, but the women had not.

In the deeply conservative Afghan society, women stayed inside their tents, unable to go out to get medical and other assistance because there were no female aid workers.

“The women are still covered in blood,” said Sameera Syed Rahman of International Rescue.

It was only after she met local elders to tell them of the arrival of a women’s medical team that the women went outside for treatment.

“This is not just an emergency situation; in many parts of the country women are not going out to get help,” she said.

It is an example of how important female workers are to humanitarian operations in Afghanistan – and shows the impact that will be felt after the Taliban last month banned Afghan women from working for NGOs, said Syed Rahman.

The ban, announced on December 24, has forced 11 major international aid organizations along with some smaller organizations to suspend operations entirely, saying they cannot function without their female workers.

Aid agencies warn that hundreds of thousands have already been affected by the interruption of services, and if the ban continues, the dire and deadly consequences will increase on a larger scale for a population that has suffered from decades of war, deteriorating living conditions and economic hardship.

NGOs keep Afghanistan alive

Aid agencies and NGOs have been working to keep Afghanistan alive since the Taliban seized power in August 2021.

The takeover halted international financing, froze currency reserves, and cut off global banking services, collapsing the already fragile economy.

NGOs have stepped in to the breach, providing everything from food to basic services such as health care and education.

Many organizations have reduced their workforce. According to UN Women, a post-ban survey of 151 local and international NGOs found that 14 in each were still fully operational.

UN agencies continued to work – largely to preserve the food lifeline that keeps millions of Afghans out of starvation.

The extent of application and implementation of the ban is not clear. In some places, some women have been able to continue working in the field.

The International Rescue Committee, which has suspended operations, estimates that some 165,000 people lost its health services between December 24 and January 9.

He warned of the increase in deaths and diseases and the burden on the health system in Afghanistan.

The IRC supports more than 100 health facilities including 30 mobile health teams, in some cases providing life-saving assistance to remote areas.

“It’s the only health care some women get,” said Ms. Syed Rahman.

“Parts of Afghanistan still lack hospitals, clinics or other medical facilities. With each passing day, the suspension is having a huge impact on the amount of aid delivered.”

Children at risk of starvation

While the bulk of the food aid continued to flow, important nutrition programs were halted.

Save the Children is among the agencies that suspended their activities entirely on December 25. As a result, tens of thousands did not receive food support.

Last month, before the ban went into effect, Save the Children helped nearly 30,000 children and nearly 32,000 adults get feeding. The stoppage also cut off cash transfers to 5,077 families, who received one payment of money in December – money they depend on for food and other supplies.

The numbers of malnourished children are high and growing in Afghanistan, with a 50 percent increase over the past year.

Without the help of NGOs, Save the Children warns, children could be sold into labor or marriage. (AP: Save the Children)

About 1 million children under the age of five are likely to face the most severe form of malnutrition this year, according to United Nations figures.

Nearly half of Afghanistan’s 41 million people are expected to experience acute food insecurity between November 2022 and March 2023, according to the World Food Programme.

“Children’s lives (in Afghanistan) are on hold,” said Kian Salarkia of Save the Children.

“If you don’t get the right kind of food in the first 100 days, it will have a knock-on effect on the rest of your life,” he said.

Salarkiyah said the ban will affect almost everyone in Afghanistan in one way or another. Save the Children’s cash grants helped families feel that they did not have to sell their children into marriage or work. Without this support, more children will be married off or forced to work.

“The cascading effects of this will be massive, which is why we hope to see it reversed as soon as possible,” he said.

AP

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