Three major international aid groups have suspended their operations in Afghanistan following a decision by Taliban rulers to ban women from working at non-government organisations.
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Save the Children, the Norwegian Refugee Council and CARE say they cannot effectively reach children, women and men in desperate need in Afghanistan without the women in their workforces.
The NGO ban was introduced on Saturday, allegedly because women weren't wearing the Islamic headscarf correctly.
The three NGOs provide healthcare, education, child protection and nutrition services and support amid plummeting humanitarian conditions.
"We have complied with all cultural norms and we simply can't work without our dedicated female staff, who are essential for us to access women who are in desperate need of assistance," Neil Turner, the Norwegian Refugee Council's chief for Afghanistan, told The Associated Press on Sunday.
He said the group has 468 female staff in the country.
The Taliban takeover in August 2021 sent Afghanistan's economy into a tailspin and transformed the country, driving millions into poverty and hunger.
Foreign aid stopped almost overnight. Sanctions on Taliban rulers, a halt on bank transfers and frozen billions in Afghanistan's currency reserves have already restricted access to global institutions and the outside money that supported the country's aid-dependent economy before the withdrawal of US and NATO forces.
The US warned the NGO ban will disrupt vital and life-saving assistance to millions.
"Women are central to humanitarian operations around the world," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday. "This decision could be devastating for the Afghan people."
The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was deeply disturbed by reports of the NGO ban.
"The United Nations and its partners, including national and international non-governmental organisations, are helping more than 28 million Afghans who depend on humanitarian aid to survive," he said in a statement.
The International Rescue Committee said it was dismayed by the Taliban decision, adding that more than 3000 of its staff in Afghanistan are women. It was not immediately clear if it is also suspending operations.
The NGO order came in a letter on Saturday from Economy Minister Qari Din Mohammed Hanif.
It said any organisation found not complying with the order will have their licence revoked in Afghanistan. Ministry spokesman, Abdul Rahman Habib, declined to comment Sunday on the NGOs' decision to suspend their operations or give details about the ban.
The flurry of rulings from the all-male and religiously-driven Taliban government are reminiscent of their rule in the late 1990s, when they banned women from education and public spaces and outlawed music, television and many sports.
The Economy Ministry's order comes days after the Taliban banned female students from attending universities across the country, triggering backlash overseas and demonstrations in major Afghan cities.
Australian Associated Press
