Humanitarian Coordinator Appeals for the World Not to Abandon the People of Afghanistan at this Precarious Moment [EN/Dari/Pashto]

Kabul, 6 April 2023: Already the world’s largest and most severe humanitarian crisis, Afghanistan is rapidly moving towards a cliff-edge due to severe under-funding and bans on female aid workers which are disabling aid delivery at a time when 28.3 million people need life-saving assistance to survive.

“The profound effect of the pre-existing ban on NGO female aid workers plus the recent extension to all female United Nations (UN) personnel inflicts yet another unthinkable and devastating blow against Afghan women,” said Dr. Ramiz Alakbarov, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan. “While the impact of these bans may not be seen immediately, it will further undermine humanitarian partners’ ability to support the population, especially the most vulnerable such as women and girls.”

With a record 28.3 million people in need of assistance in 2023 and a humanitarian appeal of US $4.6 billion, Afghanistan is the world’s largest aid operation. Even with 20 million of its people facing severe hunger and six million of them one step away from famine, the appeal is less than 5 per cent funded having received only $213 million to date – making it the lowest funded operation globally. Levels of moderate acute malnutrition are also the highest ever recorded in the country, with an estimated four million children and pregnant and breastfeeding mothers expected to suffer from acute malnutrition this year.

“The world cannot abandon the people of Afghanistan at this precarious moment,” said Dr. Alakbarov. “While we continue to engage with the Taliban de-facto authorities to find a solution to these decrees, we urge the international community not to punish the Afghan people further by withholding critical funding. Aid agencies remain on the ground delivering life-saving assistance to millions of people, and national and international NGOs have continued to implement programmes over the past three months despite the very challenging circumstances. The population has already endured so much, it would be unconscionable to impose further harm on them by depriving them of an essential humanitarian lifeline,” said Dr. Alakbarov.
Over the past twenty months, the Taliban de-facto authorities have issued a series of increasingly restrictive measures targeting women and girls which have sought to limit their participation in all aspects of social, economic and political life.

The latest order is a continuation of this negative trend, violating women’s right to work as well as the principle of non-discrimination.

The participation of female staff in humanitarian response is essential if aid agencies are to reach all populations in need safely and effectively with principled and quality assistance. National staff remain the backbone of this effort, with women playing a fundamental and vital role in the delivery of life-saving and sustaining assistance and services. In 2022, aid agencies mounted one of the world’s largest aid operations in Afghanistan reaching 26.1 million people across all provinces with humanitarian assistance.