wanted to retrieve some papers from her office shortly after the decree was issued, the Taliban was guarding the door, she says. A male colleague collected the papers instead. The Taliban regularly visits NGO offices to see whether any women are at work. If so, they may get arrested.l see their work crippled by it.which is aiming to feed 15 million people through the winter “The whole humanitarian community is affected by the decision in one way or another,” a WFP spokesperson says.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, which works with 19 local NGOs and more than 500 women, says it has had to temporarily stop some critical activitiesworkers in the health sector are exempt from the decreeexactly what the statement means is unclear, as it is not in writing, Gall says, and many organizations worry about the safety offemale health staff can work in hospitals and clinics, but the status of mobile teams is less clear, Gall says.new terminology for their NGOs’ work.
Leaders of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative are trying to clarify what the edict means for their work. With just two cases caused by the wildvirus in Afghanistan in 2022, they say they have no intention of letting up. Two days after the edict came out, GPEI went ahead with a campaign in four eastern provinces, using female vaccinators. But UNICEF decided not to send its female staff, who inform women about upcoming campaigns and their benefits.
GPEI is planning for a large campaign targeting 5.3 million Afghan children in late January, Jafari says. “We are working closely with the ministry of health to ensure that women can stay in campaigns.” If not, campaigns will proceed with male vaccinators, as they already do in parts of the country. Fewer children will be vaccinated, especially babies who can’t be taken out of the house, Jafari says, “But we will go ahead and try our best.
The U.N. and humanitarian organizations are still hoping the decree will be reversed. The U.N. resident coordinator in Afghanistan, Ramiz Alakbarov, met with Qari Din Mohammad Hanif, the Taliban minister of economy, on 26 December, and discussions have continued. Observers note dissent among the Taliban; some ministers have said they don’t agree with the decree, and some provincial leaders want female aid staff to continue their work.