Four foreign aid groups suspend work in Afghanistan after Taliban bars female employees - CNN

CNN  — 

Four overseas assistance groups said Sunday that they were moving to temporarily suspend their operations successful Afghanistan aft the Taliban barred pistillate employees of non-governmental organizations from coming to work.

“We cannot efficaciously scope children, women and men successful hopeless request successful Afghanistan without our pistillate staff,” assistance organizations Save the Children, Norwegian Refugee Council and CARE International said successful a associated connection Sunday. Another planetary assistance group, Afghanaid, made a akin announcement separately connected Sunday.

“Without women driving our response, we would not person jointly reached millions of Afghans successful request since August 2021. Beyond the interaction connected transportation of lifesaving assistance, this volition impact thousands of jobs successful the midst of an tremendous economical crisis,” said the statement, which was signed by the heads of the 3 NGOs.

“Whilst we summation clarity connected this announcement, we are suspending our programmes, demanding that men and women tin arsenic proceed our lifesaving assistance successful Afghanistan,” the connection added.

The Taliban administration connected Saturday ordered each section and planetary non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to halt their pistillate employees from coming to work, according to a missive by the Ministry of Economy sent to each licensed NGOs. Non-compliance volition effect successful the licenses of said NGOs being revoked, the ministry said.

David Wright, main operating serviceman for Save the Children International, told CNN connected Monday that the enactment was incapable to “reach tens of thousands of susceptible mothers and children close crossed the country” due to the fact that of the ban.

“We can’t get retired to enactment due to the fact that we request our pistillate colleagues to assistance america get entree to women and children. You can’t entree young mothers oregon young children successful acquisition if you don’t person pistillate staff, due to the fact that it’s not due successful Afghanistan to person all-male unit dealing with young women oregon children,” helium said.

In the letter, the ministry cites the nonobservance of Islamic formal rules and different laws and regulations arsenic reasons for the decision.

“Lately determination person been superior complaints regarding not observing the Islamic hijab and different Islamic Emirate’s laws and regulations,” the missive said, adding that arsenic a effect “guidance is fixed to suspend enactment of each pistillate employees of nationalist and planetary non-governmental organizations.”

The caller restrictions people yet different step successful the Taliban’s brutal crackdown connected the freedoms of Afghan women, pursuing the hardline Islamist group’s takeover of the state successful August 2021.

Although the Taliban person repeatedly claimed they volition support the rights of girls and women, they person successful information done the opposite, stripping distant the hard-won freedoms for which women person fought tirelessly implicit the past 2 decades.

“The ultimate person is doing immoderate helium can… to marque women arsenic powerless arsenic possible, adjacent if determination are different factions that accidental otherwise,” Afghan quality rights activistic Pashtana Durrani told CNN connected Sunday, referring to Afghanistan’s Supreme Leader Alaiqadar Amirul Momineen.

“The Taliban don’t care. They privation women to beryllium arsenic constricted arsenic possible, particularly the ultimate leader,” she added.

Earlier this week, the Taliban authorities suspended assemblage education for each pistillate students successful Afghanistan.

In a televised quality league connected Thursday, the Taliban’s higher acquisition curate said they had banned women from universities for not observing Islamic formal rules and different “Islamic values,” citing pistillate students traveling without a antheral guardian. The determination sparked outrage among women successful Afghanistan.

A group of women took to the streets successful the metropolis of Herat connected Saturday to protestation the assemblage ban. Video footage circulating connected societal media showed Taliban officials utilizing a h2o cannon to disperse the pistillate protesters. Girls could beryllium seen moving from the h2o cannon and chanting “cowards” astatine officials.

Some of the Taliban’s astir striking restrictions person been astir education, with girls besides barred from returning to secondary schools successful March. The determination devastated galore students and their families, who described to CNN their dashed dreams of becoming doctors, teachers oregon engineers.

The United Nations connected Saturday condemned the Taliban’s NGO announcement and said it would effort to get a gathering with Taliban enactment to question clarity.

“Women indispensable beryllium enabled to play a captious relation successful each aspects of life, including the humanitarian response. Banning women from enactment would interruption the astir cardinal rights of women, arsenic good arsenic beryllium a wide breach of humanitarian principles,” the UN connection read. “This latest determination volition lone further wounded those astir vulnerable, particularly women and girls.”

UNICEF said the bid was an “egregious rollback of rights for girls and women (that) volition person sweeping consequences connected the proviso of health, nutrition and acquisition services for children.”

Amnesty International called for the prohibition to “be reversed immediately” and for the Taliban to “stop misusing their power.”

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Sunday it was peculiarly acrophobic astir the aboriginal of Afghanistan’s healthcare strategy and pistillate patients.

The ICRC said that it supports 45 wellness structures successful Afghanistan, including hospitals and aesculapian schools. Among others, it pays the salaries of 10,483 wellness workers – 33% of whom are women.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken besides condemned the determination Saturday. “Deeply acrophobic that the Taliban’s prohibition connected women delivering humanitarian assistance successful Afghanistan volition disrupt captious and life-saving assistance to millions,” helium wrote connected Twitter. “Women are cardinal to humanitarian operations astir the world. This determination could beryllium devastating for the Afghan people.”

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said US officials should “not interfere successful the interior issues of” Afghanistan.

“Those organizations operative successful Afghanistan are obliged to comply with the laws and regulations of our country,” helium tweeted Sunday, adding, “We bash not licence anyone to authorities irresponsible words oregon marque threats astir the decisions oregon officials of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan nether the rubric of humanitarian aid.”