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'Pushed against a wall': NGOs torn over Taliban ban on women staff

Some 1,260 NGOs operate across Afghanistan, with thousands of women workers providing services in healthcare, education, water and sanitation.

AFP

Women are vital for on-the-ground aid operations, particularly in identifying other women in need, says Reshma Azmi, deputy country head for CARE in Afghanistan.

Aid groups say they have been "pushed against a wall" by the Taliban prohibiting Afghan women from working for NGOs, a ban that has left a dangerous gap in life-saving support.

Afghanistan's NGOs have been instrumental in trying to address one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with half the country's population hungry and three million children at risk of malnutrition.

"It is impossible for us to continue our activities in the country if we don't have women as part of our organisations at all levels," Samira Sayed-Rahman, a senior official at International Rescue Committee (IRC), told AFP.

Some 1,260 NGOs operate across Afghanistan, with thousands of women workers providing services in healthcare, education, water and sanitation.

The IRC is one of several NGOs - along with CARE and Save the Children - that have suspended operations while they urge the Taliban to revoke the ban.

The Taliban policy will see thousands of women lose their jobs and many more cut out of aid loops, workers say.

"They tell us, 'If you choose to leave instead of obeying our rules, then the (humanitarian) situation will only worsen'," said a senior official at a foreign NGO, who asked not to be identified.

The ban was one of two crushing orders released in rapid succession last month, just days earlier Taliban authorities banned women from university education.

It was the culmination of a slew of drip-fed restrictions on women's lives.

Women-to-women aid

In Afghan society, it is widely considered inappropriate for a woman to speak to a man who is not a close relative.

Women are therefore vital for on-the-ground aid operations, particularly in identifying other women in need, said Reshma Azmi, deputy country head for CARE in Afghanistan.

"A female beneficiary also feels more comfortable talking to a female aid worker... that's why it's not possible without women staff," Azmi told AFP.

CARE provided aid to about half a million women and children in 2022, including offering classes for girls run by women teachers.

"Without our female staff, we would not have reached even half of them," Azmi said.

'Observing Taliban rules'

Government officials claim the ban was imposed because women were not observing Taliban rules on wearing the hijab, or being accompanied by a male relative while travelling.

"Humanitarian organisations respect the values, traditions and culture of Afghanistan," Samy Guessabi, head of Action Against Hunger in Afghanistan, told AFP.

The Taliban insist aid can still reach the needy by being delivered to the men in the family, reducing the need for women aid workers.

The ban excludes the United Nations, which has condemned the order and joined NGOs in holding meetings with the Kabul authorities demanding an explanation.

SOURCE: AFP