Comply or boycott, the choices facing aid agencies in Afghanistan

As Afghanistan continues to grapple with the Taliban’s ban on women’s work, the Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN) has published a report discussing the ban on women’s work and examining the past and present challenges surrounding the delivery of aid in the country.

According to the report, the Taliban’s ban on women’s work has a long-standing history in Afghanistan. In the 1990s, women were explicitly prohibited from doing any work outside the home, except for a few limited circumstances. In the present, the situation is slightly different, with women banned from working in NGOs, UN agencies, secondary schools, universities, and most government jobs, but not in the private sector, primary schools, or embassies. The Taliban’s rationale for these restrictions remains unchanged – to protect the population from sin based on their understanding of sharia law.