Recent developments in Afghanistan are worrying aid organizations worldwide. After the Taliban took power on August 15, 2021, women’s rights are increasingly curtailed. Women are forced to wear full-covering veils, banned from visiting bathhouses and banned from universities.
On December 24, another ban came. Now women are no longer allowed to work in NGOs.
– That makes it impossible for us to help millions of people who are in dire need, says Jan Egeland.
700,000 would receive help
A third of the Norwegian Refugee Council’s employees are women, and the organization has ceased its work in the country.
– We cannot reach people if we only have male employees. According to Afghan traditions, it is not possible to reach women in need of help. One tenth of all Afghan families are headed by a woman. We have 470 Afghan women working for us and they are absolutely necessary for our business today.
According to Jan Egeland, 700,000 people would receive help from the Norwegian refugee aid this year, but it is now uncertain what will happen.
Religious leader rules
The Taliban have previously made promises that they would not introduce this type of misogynistic measures. Jan Egeland, who has been in talks with high-ranking representatives of the Taliban regime, says that they gave him the same signals.
– Several ministers say they agree. That they want women to be allowed to work in NGOs, but the decrees that they are not allowed to do so come from the Islamic leader in Kandahar.
He continues:
– I will travel to Kandahar to meet a representative of the Islamic Council and my message is that this must change as soon as possible. We have days but not weeks. People are dying because of these rules, he says.