Taliban bans female NGO staff, jeopardizing aid efforts - Reuters

KABUL, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Afghanistan's Taliban-run medication connected Saturday ordered each section and overseas NGOs to halt pistillate employees from working, successful a determination the United Nations said would deed humanitarian operations conscionable arsenic wintertime grips a state already successful economical crisis.

A missive from the system ministry, confirmed by spokesperson Abdulrahman Habib, said pistillate employees of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) were not allowed to enactment until further announcement due to the fact that immoderate had not adhered to the administration's mentation of Islamic dresscode for women.

It comes days aft the medication ordered universities to adjacent to women, prompting planetary condemnation and sparking immoderate protests and dense disapproval wrong Afghanistan.

Both decisions are the latest restrictions connected women that are apt to undermine the Taliban-run administration's efforts to summation planetary designation and wide sanctions that are severely hampering the economy.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said connected Twitter helium was "deeply concerned" the determination "will disrupt captious and life-saving assistance to millions," adding: "Women are cardinal to humanitarian operations astir the world. This determination could beryllium devastating for the Afghan people."

Ramiz Alakbarov, the U.N. lawman peculiar typical for Afghanistan and humanitarian coordinator, told Reuters that though the U.N. had not received the order, contracted NGOs carried retired astir of its activities and would beryllium heavy impacted.

"Many of our programmes volition beryllium affected," helium said, due to the fact that they request pistillate unit to measure humanitarian request and place beneficiaries, different they volition not beryllium capable to instrumentality assistance programs.

International assistance bureau AfghanAid said it was instantly suspending operations portion it consulted with different organisations, and that different NGOs were taking akin actions.

The imaginable endangerment of assistance programmes that millions of Afghans entree comes erstwhile much than fractional the colonisation relies connected humanitarian aid, according to assistance agencies, and during the mountainous nation's coldest season.

"There's ne'er a close clip for thing similar this ... but this peculiar clip is precise unfortunate due to the fact that during wintertime clip radical are astir successful request and Afghan winters are precise harsh," said Alakbarov.

He said his bureau would consult with NGOs and U.N. agencies connected Sunday and question to conscionable with Taliban authorities for an explanation.

Aid workers accidental pistillate workers are indispensable successful a state wherever rules and taste customs mostly forestall antheral workers from delivering assistance to pistillate beneficiaries.

"An important rule of transportation of humanitarian assistance is the quality of women to enactment independently and successful an unimpeded mode successful its organisation truthful if we can't bash it successful a principled mode past nary donors volition beryllium backing immoderate programs similar that," Alakbarov said.

When asked whether the rules straight included U.N. agencies, Habib said the missive applied to organisations nether Afghanistan's coordinating assemblage for humanitarian organisations, known arsenic ACBAR. That assemblage does not see the U.N., but includes implicit 180 section and planetary NGOs.

Their licences would beryllium suspended if they did not comply, the missive said.

Afghanistan's struggling system has tipped into situation since the Taliban took implicit successful 2021, with the state facing sanctions, cuts successful improvement assistance and a frost successful cardinal slope assets.

A grounds 28 cardinal Afghans are estimated to request humanitarian assistance adjacent year, according to AfghanAid.

Reporting by Kabul newsroom; further reporting by Susan Heavey successful Washington Editing by Mark Potter and Josie Kao

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