On Saturday 24th December, the de-facto authorities in Afghanistan issued a letter directing humanitarian organisations to stop women from working.
This year the War Child UK programme in Afghanistan reached over 150,000 vulnerable children and families through provision of child protection, education, and support with livelihoods. In 2023, War Child UK is planning to reach 200,000 people in the western provinces (Herat, Badghis, Ghor and Farah) of Afghanistan.
This programme will simply not be able to run without our dedicated female staff – War Child UK and its partners employs 290 local women. In a context like Afghanistan, reaching out to girls and women who are suffering from the current humanitarian crisis is impossible without the women we employ. Girls feel safer and more able to trust and confide in women, which is essential to their recovery and helping them to build a safer future.
Together with the rest of the community of humanitarian organisations, War Child UK headquarters has made the difficult decision to suspend the critical work we do in Afghanistan. We are calling on the authorities in Afghanistan to allow humanitarian organisations to allow both men and women to work so we can continue to support the children who need to access vital services. We haven’t taken this decision lightly and have only done so because our future work in Afghanistan needs to include female staff in order to be effective.
The exception to this decision, is where we believe that lives will be at immediate risk if we stop our work. Therefore, we will continue a limited operation in Herat province to assist unaccompanied children crossing back into Afghanistan from neighbouring Iran. These children are particularly vulnerable and at high risk of exploitation and abuse, trafficking and even starvation if War Child does not continue this life-saving work.
- Rob Williams, CEO
