The Afghan authorities on Saturday banned women from working for local and international NGOs, which are essential to the country.
SourceAFP
© AHMAD SAHEL ARMAN / AFP
Published on
– Modified
TForeign NGOs announced on Sunday that they were suspending their activities in Afghanistan following the Taliban’s decision to ban women from working for local and international NGOs, which are essential in the country. In a joint statement, Save the Children, the Norwegian Refugee Council and Care International announced Sunday afternoon to suspend their activities until the announcement made Saturday evening by the Taliban is “clarified”.
“We are suspending our programs, demanding that men and women can continue our help to save lives in Afghanistan in the same way,” explain the three associations. On Sunday, senior United Nations officials and dozens of NGOs operating in Afghanistan conferred on how to proceed after the Taliban ordered them to stop working with women.
“serious complaints”
On Saturday evening, as the West prepared to celebrate Christmas, the Afghan Ministry of Economy ordered all non-governmental organizations to stop working with women or risk having their operating license suspended. It was unclear whether the directive applied to foreign female NGO staff. In the letter sent to local and international NGOs, the ministry explains that it took this decision after receiving “serious complaints” that the women working there did not respect the wearing of the “Islamic hijab”.
READ ALSOAfghanistan – The true face of the new Taliban
In Afghanistan, women are forced to cover their faces and their entire bodies. “We were never notified of any problem concerning the Women’s Dress Code,” an association official said on Sunday. “The ban is going to impact all aspects of humanitarian work, as female employees hold key positions in projects targeting the country’s vulnerable female population,” a senior official with a law firm told AFP on Sunday. foreign NGO.
Millions of Afghans depend on humanitarian aid provided by international donors through an extensive network of NGOs. In a statement, the UN reminded the Afghan authorities that by excluding women “systematically from all aspects of public and political life”, they are “setting the country back by undermining efforts to achieve peace and meaningful stability. in the country “. The noose around women has tightened in recent months. 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 dress code not respected. They had already excluded them from secondary schools. They are further barred from many public jobs, cannot travel without a male relative, and have been ordered to cover themselves outside the home, ideally with a burqa. They are also not allowed to enter the parks.
“Fighting for our rights”
“This latest egregious rollback of the rights of girls and women will have far-reaching consequences for the delivery of health, nutrition and education services to children,” UNICEF regional director George Laryea-Adjei tweeted on Sunday. Dozens of organizations work in remote areas of Afghanistan and many of their employees are women. Several of them warned that a ban on female staff would hamper their work.
READ ALSOBHL – It is dark in Afghanistan
“There are fifteen of us in my family and I am the only support, if I lose my job, my family will starve,” testified Shabana, 24, an NGO worker in Kabul. “As you celebrate the arrival of the new year, Afghanistan has become hell for women,” added the young woman on this Christmas day. Not wishing to give her name for fear of reprisals from the Taliban, another 27-year-old Afghan woman, who was to start working on Sunday in an international NGO, saw her “dreams fly away”. “The hard work that I had provided in recent years in the field of education was shattered,” she testified to AFP.
“But we are brave enough not to accept the bans, and to fight for our rights. It may take time, but if we believe in ourselves, we will come back stronger than ever,” said the young woman. According to the United Nations and aid agencies, more than half of the country’s 38 million people need humanitarian assistance during the harsh winter.
Karen Decker, US representative in Afghanistan, demanded accountability. “As a representative of the biggest donor (to this country), I believe I have the right to ask how the Taliban intend to prevent women and children from starving to death, if women can no longer distribute help other women and children,” she tweeted Sunday in multiple languages. Taliban spokesman Zabihoullah Mujahid responded by tweet: “We don’t allow anyone to say anything or make threats about our leaders’ decisions in terms of humanitarian aid. »