Afghanistan ban on women in NGOs deepens economic and humanitarian

Afghanistan, ban on women in NGOs deepens economic and humanitarian crisis

GDP contracted in 2020 amid the Covid pandemic and should have recovered at a modest pace in 2021. Period 2021-2022.

The paralysis of humanitarian operations may deal an additional blow as winter approaches and a year that promises to be even more tumultuous for systemic stability. The United Nations estimates that the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance will increase from 24.4 million in 2022 to 28.4 million in 2023, which is 70% of the population. UNICEF warns that in December 8,000 children risked their lives due to food insecurity while 97% of the population live on the poverty line.

The Taliban government had tried to establish itself in the international community and denied fears of a restoration of the regime that had been overthrown two decades earlier. Recent decisions go in a different direction, unbalancing the executive branch’s work towards more extremist tendencies. In a lightning bolt of days, authorities first banned women from the university and then crowded out the collaborative world in a bottleneck already condemned by the UN, EU and US. “This decision could be devastating for the Afghan people,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken commented on Kabul’s request not to “interfere” in the country’s internal affairs.

UN officials are trying to mediate with the Afghan authorities to have the ban lifted, stressing that the work of NGOs is “vital” to international aid. “Millions of Afghans need help,” the United Nations declared, reports the Associated Press news agency, without giving details of the face-to-face meeting. At the moment there is no news of a U-turn or a decision by the UN to break with Kabul.

The NGOs: so impossible to operate, the situation is coming to a head

The NGOs that have announced their withdrawal are in the minority, at least for the time being. But the concern pervading the sector is summed up in the communication from Save the Children, The Norwegian Refugee Council and Care International. “Without our employees, we cannot effectively reach the children, women and men in Afghanistan who are in urgent need of help,” said the three organizations and emphasized the – also economic – impact of the tightening. “This (measure, ed.) will affect thousands of jobs in the midst of a huge economic crisis,” the statement said. The unemployment rate has already risen to 13.3% in 2021 and could break through to 20% in the coming years.