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Aid agencies warn of ‘life-threatening consequences’ of NGO ban

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Heads of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee on Afghanistan, under the umbrella of the World Health Organization, have collectively said banning women from humanitarian work has immediate life-threatening consequences for all Afghans.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the agencies said the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s (IEA) decision to ban women from working for NGOs was a “major blow for vulnerable communities, for women, for children, and for the entire country.”

The organizations said female staff are key to every aspect of the humanitarian response in Afghanistan.

“They are teachers, nutrition experts, team leaders, community health workers, vaccinators, nurses, doctors, and heads of organizations. They have access to populations that their male colleagues cannot reach and are critical to safeguarding the communities we serve,” read the statement.

“They save lives,” the organization said.

Their professional expertise is indispensable and their participation in aid delivery is “not negotiable and must continue”, the statement noted.

Since the IEA’s announcement on Saturday, some programmes have had to stop temporarily due to the lack of female staff. “This comes at a time when more than 28 million people in Afghanistan, including millions of women and children, require assistance to survive as the country grapples with the risk of famine conditions, economic decline, entrenched poverty and a brutal winter,” the statement read.

However, the agencies said they will “endeavor to continue lifesaving, time-critical activities unless impeded”.

“But we foresee that many activities will need to be paused as we cannot deliver principled humanitarian assistance without female aid workers.

“We urge the de facto authorities to reconsider and reverse this directive, and all directives banning women from schools, universities and public life. No country can afford to exclude half of its population from contributing to society,” the statement read.

Signatories to the statement were as follows:

  • Mr. Martin Griffiths, Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
  • Mr. Qu Dongyu, Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
  • Ms. Shahin Ashraf, Chair, International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA) Board, (Islamic Relief)
  • Mr. Ignacio Packer, Executive Director, International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA)
  • Ms. Miriam Sapiro, President and Chief Executive Officer, InterAction
  • Ms. Tjada D’Oyen McKenna, Chief Eexcutive Officer, Mercy Corps
  • Ms. Janti Soerpinto, President and Chief Executive Officer, Save the Children US
  • Mr. António Vitorino, Director General, International Organization for Migration (IOM)
  • Mr. Volker Turk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
  • Mr. Andrew Morley, President and Chief Executive Officer, World Vision International
  • Ms. Sofia Sprechmann Sineiro, Secretary-General, CARE International
  • Ms. Paula Gaviria Betancur, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons (UN SR on HR of IDPs)
  • Mr. Achim Steiner, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
  • Dr. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
  • Ms. Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Executive Director, United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat)
  • Mr. Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
  • Ms. Catherine Russell, Executive Director, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
  • Ms. Sima Bahous, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director (UN Women)
  • Mr. David Beasley, Executive Director, World Food Programme (WFP)
  • Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO)

In another collective statement, issued Thursday, the Foreign Ministers of Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States and the High Representative of the European Union said they are gravely concerned that the order barring female NGOs from the workplace puts millions of Afghans at risk.

“We call on the Taliban to urgently reverse this decision,” they said.

“Unless they (women) participate in aid delivery in Afghanistan, NGOs will be unable to reach the country’s most vulnerable people to provide food, medicine, winterization, and other materials and services they need to live,” said the group of foreign ministers.

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Maldives recalls envoy to Pakistan over meeting with Afghanistan envoy

The island nation’s foreign ministry said the much publicized meeting had not been sanctioned by the government

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The Maldives government has recalled its top diplomat in Pakistan after he had an unauthorized meeting with an Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan envoy in Islamabad. 

The island nation’s foreign ministry said the much publicized meeting between the Maldives High Commissioner Mohamed Thoha and IEA envoy Sardar Ahmad Shakeeb on Friday had not been sanctioned by the government.

Maldives media reported that the foreign ministry stated: “Consequently, appropriate action has been taken by the government of Maldives.” 

Thoha’s name has also been removed from the website of the Maldives mission in Islamabad, and an official source told AFP that he had been recalled.

Since regained control of Afghanistan in August 2021, no country has yet officially recognized the government.

However, the IEA has been making inroads into the diplomatic arena and has official missions now stationed in a number of regional countries. 

 

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Afghanistan exported more than 2,500 tons of pine nuts in 1402

Afghan pine nut is mostly exported to China, India, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

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The Ministry of Industry and Commerce says that in the past solar year (1402) more than 2,500 tons of pine nuts worth $27 million were exported to neighboring countries and beyond.

Afghan pine nut is mostly exported to China, India, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

“The total weight of black pine nut exports during 1402 was 2,523 tons and the value was $27 million, mostly to China, India, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United States, Britain, Australia, the Netherlands, and other countries,” said Abdul Salam Javad Akhundzada, the spokesman of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.

Officials in the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock say that since last year, pine nut production has increased in the country and they have also expanded artificial forests to harvest more pine nuts.

“In order to revive pine nut forests, according to last year's development budget, pine trees have been planted on approximately 1,500 hectares of land.
There used to be pine trees on these lands, but they were cut down or destroyed in a fire,” said Misbahuddin Mustain, the spokesperson of the Ministries of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock.

Experts say that currently China buys most of Afghanistan's pint nuts, but the government must find new markets so that it can be sold at a better price.

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IEA says deportation of Afghan migrants from neighboring countries has intensified

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A committee of the High Commission for Addressing the Problems of Migrants said the process of forced expulsion of Afghan migrants from neighboring countries has intensified.

However, members of the committee emphasized, in their meeting with the Prime Minister's administrative deputy, that they have managed the resettlement of the returnees well in cooperation with relevant institutions.

In the meeting, Abdul Salam Hanafi, the administrative deputy prime minister, said that as winter approaches, committees should seek to ensure that the returnees will not face problems.

Experts say that the refugee hosting countries should treat Afghan migrants according to international laws, and take into account the current conditions of the country.

“To reduce immigration and increase economic stability, creating employment opportunities, increasing investment, giving various types of loans to people and issuing securities can be effective,” said Asifa Stanikzai, a migration expert.

Iranian officials have said that they deport 3,000 Afghan immigrants from the country every day and they plan to deport two million Afghan immigrants by the end of this year.

Forced deportation of Afghan migrants from Iran and Pakistan has been a serious challenge in the last three years, but according to experts, the Islamic Emirate has been able to manage the process to some extent.

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