Bahrain Urges Taliban to Reverse Ban on Afghan Women Working for NGOs

UNAMA announced that millions of Afghans need humanitarian assistance and removing barriers is vital.

The Taliban’s order on banning women to work in non-governmental organisations comes days after the group banned Afghan girls from pursuing higher education in Afghanistan.

International organisations have reacted to the Taliban’s decision and stressed that the group will deepen the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan by banning women employees from work.

According to Takor, the explosion took place close to the Taliban Police Chief commander's house in Faizabad city of Badakhshan province on Monday.

He added that four people have been arrested in connection with the explosion.

Earlier, local sources had reported that on Monday morning, Mawlawi Abdul Haq Omar, the Taliban police commander for Badakhshan province, had been targeted in an explosion near his residence in the province.

Sources told Afghanistan International that the death toll has been higher than what the Taliban has announced.

Emphasising that the IRC’s ability to deliver services rely on female staff at all levels, the organisation stressed that if they are not allowed to employ women, they will not able to deliver to those in need.

The IRC, while stating that it is dismayed and disheartened by the Taliban ban said that the exclusion of women from humanitarian service delivery will have catastrophic consequences for the Afghan people because its services depend on women workers. The IRC has urged Taliban to take into consideration the grave humanitarian implications of the ban as over 97% of the population is at risk of poverty.

The IRC said in a statement that over the past three decades it has never had to cease delivering support in the country. The organisation added that it is committed to working with national and international NGOs, civil society organizations, the UN, and all relevant stakeholders to ensure that the situation is resolved.

Currently, the IRC had been operating in twelve provinces across Afghanistan in the areas of emergency response, health, education, livelihoods and other life-saving interventions.

“IRC in Afghanistan employs over 8000 people - over 3,000 of whom are women. Our male and female staff work closely with rural and urban communities to identify needs, design and implement programming in line with cultural sensitivities and social norms,” it added.

With Afghanistan in the midst of a worsening humanitarian crisis and economic collapse, humanitarian actors have been essential in saving lives in the country over the course of the past year.

As Afghanistan struggles to recover from ongoing conflict and natural disasters, the IRC: works with local communities to identify, plan and manage their own development projects, provides safe learning spaces in rural areas, community-based education, cash distribution provides uprooted families with tents, clean water, sanitation and other basic necessities, and helps people find livelihood opportunities as well as extensive resilience programming.

The coalition added that Afghan women have been systemically removed from social life under the Taliban regime.

The women activists called on the international community to hold the Taliban accountable regarding women’s issues in Afghanistan.

According to the statement, since the group's return to power in 2021, the Taliban leadership has issued more than 33 decrees "to restrict and punish women".

The coalition has emphasised that human rights and stability are undeniably linked in Afghanistan and the world cannot and should not, ignore the problems of Afghan women.

The coalition has asked the International Criminal Court to use its jurisdiction and bring the Taliban to justice for their "heinous crimes against women".

The Taliban has increased handing out of the punishment of flogging over the last month.

Aziz Ahmad Rashid, head of Khost city’s primary court, said that the defendants have been sentenced to punishment to prevent prostitution.

Corporal punishment of citizens by the Taliban has been widely condemned domestically and internationally.

On Thursday, the Taliban also publicly flogged 21 people, including four women, on various charges in Badakhshan province.