Afghanistan: NGOs Resume Some Operations With Female Staff

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Image copyright: Save the Children/AP [via Voice of America]

The Facts

  • At least three major aid organizations have partially resumed work in Afghanistan after receiving assurances from Taliban authorities that female staff can work in fields such as health and nutrition.

  • The aid organizations CARE, Save the Children, and International Rescue Committee (IRC) said that they have resumed their work in the health sector in recent days. Their operations had been suspended since the Taliban banned Afghan women from working in the aid sector in late December.

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The Spin

Establishment-critical narrative

The outrage over the restriction of women's rights under the Taliban regime is entirely justified. However, it is the families of Afghan women who suffered from the withdrawal of some 150 aid agencies that suspended their operations over the ban on women's staffing. Isolating Afghanistan is counterproductive and halting aid work contradicts the principles of neutrality and humanitarianism. This played into the Taliban's hands.

The National

Pro-establishment narrative

Through their repressive policies, the Taliban have deprived many Afghan women of their livelihoods, multiplying the plight of millions of Afghans. The fact that women may now work for NGOs in the health sector again is no more than a first step. The general ban on employment has made the work of many aid organizations in the country almost impossible and violates humanitarian principles.

New York Times

Establishment split

CRITICAL

PRO