KABUL: Three foreign aid groups, including Save the Children, announced today they were suspending their operations in Afghanistan after the Taliban ordered all NGOs to stop their women staff from working.
The announcement came as top officials from the United Nations and dozens of NGOs operating in Afghanistan met in Kabul to discuss a way ahead after the Taliban’s latest restriction delivered a blow to humanitarian work across the country.
“We cannot effectively reach children, women and men in desperate need in Afghanistan without our female staff,” Save the Children, the Norwegian Refugee Council and CARE said in a joint statement.
“Whilst we gain clarity on this announcement, we are suspending our programmes, demanding that men and women can equally continue our lifesaving assistance in Afghanistan.”
Yesterday’s order issued by the Taliban authorities drew swift international condemnation, with governments and organisations warning of the impact on humanitarian services in a country where millions rely on aid.
The latest restriction comes less than a week after the hardline Islamists banned women from attending universities, prompting global outrage and protests in some Afghan cities.
The ministry of economy yesterday threatened to suspend the operating licences of NGOs if they failed to implement the order.
The ministry, which issues these licences, said it had received “serious complaints” that women working in NGOs were not observing proper Islamic dress code.
A meeting of the Humanitarian Country Team, which comprises top UN officials and representatives of dozens of Afghan and foreign NGOs was being held in Kabul to discuss whether to suspend all aid work following the latest Taliban directive, aid officials told AFP.
The United Nations condemned the ministry’s directive and said it would seek an explanation from the Taliban about the order, which by excluding women “systematically from all aspects of public and political life takes the country backward, jeopardising efforts for any meaningful peace or stability in the country”.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken said the ban would be “devastating” to Afghans as it would “disrupt vital and life-saving assistance to millions”.
‘Hell for women’