KABUL (Pajhwok): The Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief and Development (ACBAR) on Thursday urged the global fraternity, including donors, to ensure sustained engagement with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA).
The international community should advocate for the role and importance of NGOs and civil society associations that can contribute to the development and growth of the country, ACBAR said.
The independent organisation issued a set of recommendations for consideration by the Berlin Civil Society Conference on Afghanistan, which begins today.
The world was urged to convince the Taliban administration of the need for girls to be educated and women permitted to work in order to contribute to the development of the war-torn country.
ACBAR sought grants for civil society organisations -- multiyear, flexible and small grants for national NGOs and CSOs at the provincial level.
It proposed Afghan diaspora should identify funds and channel support for national NGOs and women CSOs that are already active.
“More needs to be done to increase participation of women humanitarian staff in humanitarian assistance,” the organisation believed.
This includes advocacy to increase the hiring and promotion of women staff in senior positions in humanitarian organisations and promoting the role of women CSOs as first responders and field monitors.
On behalf of its 183 national and international NGO members operating in Afghanistan, ACBAR explained how civil society in the country could be strengthened best.
ACBAR made the following observations:
- The population of Afghanistan has suffered since August 2021 as a result of international sanctions and the suspension of development funding. This has had a dramatic impact on the economy, with loss of employment, interruption of the banking system and increased food insecurity -- compounded by three years of drought.
Since the IEA takeover in August 2021, many remote areas in Afghanistan have opened up due to the cessation of fighting. UN agencies and NGOs are facing increased demands for development and humanitarian services across the country.
Despite demands for scaled-up humanitarian support, in the last year, NGOs faced operational problems such as accessing bank accounts to pay staff salaries and receive international transfers and interference in their operations by IEA.
The activities of some national NGOs, with long-term experience in implementation of development and humanitarian projects, have also been suspended by the authorities.
Many civil society organisations (CSOs) also face difficulties reporting and re-registering with local authorities, especially those operating in fields considered sensitive such as human rights, democracy or gender.
Donors that used to provide small grants to civil society actors have disappeared and humanitarian assistance is now the major source of funding. This has had a negative impact on many national NGOs, women’s organizations and civil society associations that are not necessarily humanitarian actors.
- Schools for girls above sixth grade remain closed in most provinces, although security is better, and many more children are enrolling in primary schools.
The lack of education for older girls will have a profound impact on the role of women in developing the society, similar to the impact under the previous IEA government when education was suspended for five years from 1996-2001. At the time many NGOs and women’s associations carried on teaching girls despite the official ban.
A March 2022 study for the Gender in Humanitarian Action Working Group1 found that the ability of women’s organisations to continue operating was affected by several factors:
- Limitations in movements for women working in NGOs and CSOs, including mahram requirements and its extra costs, and requirement to wear the hijab;
https://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/research-challenges-barriers-and-opportunities-women-led-csos- afghanistans-humanitarian-crisis
- Intimidation and bureaucratic constraints against women CSOs, including struggles to obtain or extend official documents;
- Lack of funding, 77 percent of women CSOs interviewed reported they had no projects in 2022, a situation worsened by the barriers in withdrawing funds from bank accounts inside Afghanistan and receiving funds from outside the country, which are only now gradually improving;
- Increased violence and disrespect for women and girls, and harmful social practices, as respect for women has declined since August 2021. This was not only due to stricter rules put in place for women and girls by the IEA authorities and reinforced conservative behavior of men advancing discriminatory gender norms, but also due to the reduced advocacy and human rights activities that many women CSOs had been engaged in, and to the dismantling of human and women’s rights institutions.
- Lack of inclusion of women CSOs in the humanitarian response despite their experience in different sectors such as health, education, protection, women’s shelters and livelihoods support.
Today it is more important and urgent than ever to support civil society organizations inside Afghanistan, and offer them the necessary means and support they need to continue operating and working for their country’s future.
SCOs need to be included in discussions inside and outside Afghanistan, and much more efforts need to be done to ensure their meaningful participation, including through financial support, support to obtain visas to travel for conferences or events, translation services, and other necessary means.
pr/mud
