The most recent Taliban decree prohibiting women from working for NGOs in Afghanistan has shocked and demoralized the International Rescue Committee (IRC), a press release from IRC states.
Since 1988, the IRC has operated in Afghanistan. In the more than three decades that they have been in Afghanistan, they have worked for the Afghan people, helping millions of the most vulnerable people there.
Currently, the IRC provides emergency response, health, education, livelihoods, and other life-saving activities in twelve provinces across Afghanistan. Their male and female staff members collaborate closely with rural and urban communities to identify needs, develop programming that is sensitive to cultural norms, and put it into action.
Over 8000 people work for the IRC in Afghanistan now, including over 3,000 women.
Over the past year, humanitarian actors have been crucial in saving lives in Afghanistan due to the country’s escalating humanitarian catastrophe and economic collapse. Without the aid of female humanitarian workers, none of that would have been possible. Restrictions on women’s ability to work have contributed to an economic loss of up to $1 billion, or nearly 5% of Afghanistan’s GDP, in the past year alone.
Afghanistan’s present and future will be affected for the rest of their lives by the government’ most recent ban on Afghan women working for domestic and international NGOs, which follows past bans on women attending universities, vocational schools, and private institutions. The Afghan people will suffer tragically if women are excluded from providing humanitarian services because our services rely on female employees.
The IRC implores the authorities to evaluate the serious humanitarian implications of this latest decision at a time when over 97% of the population is at risk of poverty.
The IRC said that it is dedicated to cooperating with local, national, and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), civil society organizations, the UN, and all pertinent parties to ensure that the issue is resolved so that we can provide aid to the Afghan people.
The ability of IRC to provide services depends on the presence of female employees at all organizational levels. As a result, the IRC has decided to stop providing its services in Afghanistan.
