Taliban Restrictions Halt 18 Aid Programmes in Afghanistan, UN Says
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says access restrictions in July led to the temporary suspension of 18 relief programmes in Afghanistan, and that Taliban restrictions on women continued to disrupt aid delivery.
In its latest report, OCHA said 30 access-related restrictions or incidents were recorded in July. The figure represents a 50% decline from 60 incidents in June, but the agency said the impact on relief operations remained significant.
According to the report, 18 of the incidents led to temporary programme suspensions and two others resulted in the temporary closure of centres. OCHA added that by the end of July, 11 of the 30 incidents had been resolved, while 19 remained unresolved.
OCHA said interference by the Taliban authorities in humanitarian activities, with 16 incidents recorded, was the most common barrier to access. Another 12 incidents were linked to Taliban violence against humanitarian staff, assets and facilities, while two involved restrictions on the movement of aid agencies, personnel or the transfer of goods.
OCHA also said gender-related restrictions remained among the major obstacles to humanitarian operations in Afghanistan. The agency recorded 11 gender-related restrictions in July, which affected the work of women aid workers and the access of women and girls in need to assistance.
The report said four of these restrictions involved preventing female aid workers from taking part, while in one case female staff were asked to be accompanied by a male guardian. Three other incidents were linked to the enforcement of dress codes, and a number of cases affected the recruitment of women and their access to humanitarian services.
OCHA added that in Uruzgan province, a permit previously issued for women to participate in data collection was revoked by the Taliban authorities just before the process began. According to the report, Uruzgan was the only province in which permission for women to take part in the programme was withdrawn at the last minute.
OCHA has repeatedly warned that restrictions on women’s work make it harder for aid agencies to reach part of the population in need. The agency is responsible for coordinating UN humanitarian assistance in humanitarian crises.
