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Red Cross urges donors to put lives of Afghans above politics

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(Last Updated On: February 24, 2022)

The international community must step up urgently to stop Afghanistan’s rapid slide towards total collapse and all-out humanitarian disaster, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has warned.

Six months after the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) took control, resulting in international sanctions and the freezing of aid, the continuing reluctance of many international donors to engage with the current leadership is worsening the desperate plight of millions of Afghans already worn down by more than four decades of conflict, repeated droughts and the COVID-19 pandemic, ICRC said in a statement released Thursday.

“In my 25 years as a humanitarian worker, I have never seen anything quite like this. The magnitude of the crisis facing the people of Afghanistan – and the speed with which it has worsened – is really alarming,” said Robert Mardini, director-general of the ICRC, during a visit to the country.

“Afghan lives must not be hostage to political manoeuvres. It is vital that donors distinguish between the type of development aid that might be used as political incentive and aid that will help ordinary Afghans to survive – by ensuring that government institutions can deliver basic services and prevent economic collapse. There is no time to lose.”

ICRC said that health services are among those in most urgent need of support. It cited an ICRC-supported hospital in Kandahar as an example of how it was overcrowded.

“Access to healthcare is clearly one the most pressing humanitarian concerns in the country,” said Anders Ladekarl, secretary-general of the Danish Red Cross society. “Supporting teaching hospitals and nursing schools is one of the most effective and sustainable ways to save an already-debilitated health system from collapse and help secure its future. The urgency of putting the right support in place cannot be overestimated.”

Kristiina Kumpula, secretary-general of the Finnish Red Cross society, said the levels of suffering in Afghanistan is “very distressing.”

“Afghanistan was already one of the most difficult places in the world to be a mother or an infant. Now it is harder than ever.”

Mardini said that humanitarian response cannot replace a functioning public sector and ensure service delivery for 40 million people.

“The most urgent next steps are salary payments for some 500,000 public sector civil servants, ensuring that critical services are able to function, and resuming technical support to the Central Bank to relieve the banking and liquidity crisis,” he said.

ICRC will launch an appeal of around $54 million in March, mostly to provide assistance to the country’s hospitals and medical staff.

“What is needed now is decisive action by donors to put the lives and livelihoods of Afghan people above politics,” Mardini, said. “The cost of inaction will be very much greater, and the ensuing disaster difficult, if not impossible, to reverse.”

Earlier this week, ICRC said that the Afghan people’s need for humanitarian assistance has increased by 30 percent.

The committee said 24.4 million people across Afghanistan were in need of humanitarian assistance.

Meanwhile, UNICEF said on Thursday around 3.2 million Afghan children under five are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition this year.

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Work permits issued to over 2,000, including women: Labor Ministry

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(Last Updated On: May 1, 2024)

The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs says on the occasion of International Labor Day, the Islamic Emirate is trying to increase the number of job opportunities in the country.

The ministry said that it has distributed work permits to more than 2,000 people, including women, during the past month.

“Work permits were given to 2,115 of our compatriots over the past month, including to 205 women,” said Samiullah Ebrahimi, a spokesman for the Ministry of Public Works.

“Of course, women have been permitted to work in sectors where women are necessary and their services are for women,” he added.

Meanwhile, workers in the country complain about the lack of jobs and say that the level of unemployment has increased and workers’ wages have decreased.

Afghanistan is one of the countries that has countless child laborers, and according to reports, governments have not been able to end this practice.

“I work for 200 to 300 afghanis a day, and there are eight members in our family,” said one child laborer.

“I am 12 years old and in sixth grade. I earn 150 afghanis per day, there are seven of us and I have been working here for one and a half years,” said another child laborer.

According to UN statistics, in 2024, more than 23 million people in Afghanistan need humanitarian aid, and that most of them are unemployed.

However, the demands are that international institutions should provide work for the people of Afghanistan by implementing development projects.

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Cooperating with Islamic system people’s Sharia duty: Hanafi

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(Last Updated On: May 1, 2024)

The Islamic Emirate’s Miynister of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, says there is no gap between the current system and the people and that cooperation with the Islamic system is the people’s Sharia duty, the ministry said in a statement.

At a gathering in Kabul, Hanafi said: “This Islamic system is the people’s system, the people are considered part of this system, there is no gap between the system and the people. Therefore, cooperation with the Islamic system is the people’s Sharia duty.”

“It’s a very positive thing that we Afghan people do not have differences among ourselves as before, we live under the command of one leader and the flag of the Islamic system,” Hanafi stressed.

“The goal of Jihad was to end the occupation, gain independence and strengthen the Islamic system in the country,” he stated, adding that “all these goals have been achieved with the help of God and the cooperation of Afghans.”

“Now the time has come to serve and cooperate with the people to solve the problems and implement the Sharia rules of the Islamic system,” he added.

The ministry stated that in addition to providing and protecting women’s Sharia rights, thousands of complaints have been resolved so far.

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Washington sees interaction with IEA as opportunity to protect its national interests

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(Last Updated On: May 1, 2024)

The Deputy Spokesman of the US State Department says that when the interests of his country are involved, Washington will not hesitate to interact with the Islamic Emirate.

Vedant Patel said that interaction with the Islamic Emirate is not only the best way to protect the interests of America, but also to support the people of Afghanistan.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, he said interaction with the Islamic Emirate provides the basis for a direct dialogue with them.

According to Patel, this interaction is an opportunity to continue the pressure on the Islamic Emirate for the immediate and unconditional release of American citizens, including those who have been caught “unjustly”.

Patel added that the United States would also take advantage of these opportunities to talk directly with the Islamic Emirate about commitments to counter terrorism. He emphasized that Washington human rights issues are also on the agenda.

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