Marking World Humanitarian Day, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) highlighted the challenges aid workers grapple with working in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
“Afghanistan has long been one of the most dangerous places for aid workers, often ranking among the top five most hazardous locations,” OCHA said in a statement. “Conflict and violence have significantly declined since August 2021, but new challenges have emerged.”
OCHA stated that the Taliban’s severe restrictions, particularly targeting women and girls, have complicated the humanitarian operations in the country.
Following the Taliban takeover, the humanitarian situation in the country has significantly deteriorated, making it one of the world’s most critical crises. According to the UN, approximately 23.7 million people in Afghanistan, which is over half of the population and includes more than 50% of women and girls, required humanitarian assistance this year.
The country has also been grappling with numerous natural disasters such as earthquakes, heavy rains, flooding, and landslides in recent years. These events, in addition to human costs, caused significant financial losses for the already impoverished population.
Meanwhile, humanitarian agencies have grappled with a significant funding shortfall over the past three years. The UN reported earlier that only 25% of its $3.06 billion appeal for Afghanistan this year has been funded so far.
Women and girls face even broader challenges due to the Taliban’s restrictions on their rights to education, employment, mobility, and other basic freedoms.
“The de facto authorities’ increasingly restrictive measures targeting women and girls limit their access to education, public life, services and employment, including humanitarian work, and pose significant hurdles that aid workers must constantly navigate to continue their work,” OCHA said.
In such a context, the UN humanitarian agency stressed that aid workers play a crucial role in the humanitarian operations in Afghanistan, saying their commitment ensures that affected communities’ needs are met through a comprehensive response.
“More than 35,000 dedicated professionals – most of whom work for local and international non-governmental organizations – provide life-saving support in some of the country’s most remote and challenging areas,” OCHA stated. “They work in education, demining, food assistance, health care, protection, psychosocial support and community outreach.”
Last year, aid workers provided assistance to 32.1 million people, including 26.3 million people who received food and livelihood assistance, 16.5 million who accessed health care, and 9.9 million who benefited from water, sanitation, and hygiene services, according to OCHA.
In addition, 5.7 million children and pregnant or lactating women received nutrition support, 3.5 million obtained protection services, 2 million children received education and 1 million received emergency shelter and non-food items.
OCHA said that last year marked the deadliest year on record for the global humanitarian community. At least 30 humanitarian aid workers were killed in Afghanistan in the last two years.
Despite the challenges, this year, OCHA said, aid workers aim to reach 17.3 million people, underscoring their commitment to ensuring vulnerable communities have the essentials to survive.
OCHA has called for continued financial commitments to ensure aid workers in Afghanistan can continue providing an essential lifeline to people in need.
