HRW: Two-thirds of Afghanistan population face food insecurity

KABUL (Pajhwok): An influential human rights watchdog says two-thirds of Afghanistan’s population is facing food insecurity, including 875,000 children.

In a fresh report, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) said: “Afghanistan has largely disappeared from the media, but it remains one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.”

The report said that two-thirds of the country’s population faced food insecurity, including 875,000 children who faced acute malnutrition. Women and girls remained most at risk.

The ongoing crisis has thrust upon the United Nations two vital but seemingly incompatible responsibilities in Afghanistan: keeping aid flowing to those most in need while also keeping pressure on the new rulers to end their ‘appalling human rights violations.’

The abrupt loss of most international aid after the Taliban takeover in August 2021 prompted the initial crisis, but the Islamic Emirate’s policies, such as banning women from working for the UN and nongovernmental organizations, made the situation much worse.

For aid workers trying to adhere to both the humanitarian imperative of saving lives and the principles of neutrality and impartiality, these are difficult times, the report said.

Humanitarian organizations in Afghanistan have long depended on a degree of operational flexibility and room to maneuver to keep urgent assistance going – whether negotiating access across front lines, running girls’ schools in the 1990s, or navigating the current unofficial exemptions for women to work in the health, nutrition, and education sectors.

However, recent UN statements have led to confusion and charges of incoherence among UN agencies, as some have allowed men staff to keep working while women cannot. While acknowledging the need for local flexibility, it is essential that heads of key agencies like the World Food Programme and UNICEF maintain a firm, consistent line that the Taliban’s actions are in violation of international human rights law and the UN Charter.

A recent meeting of UN special envoys in Doha reportedly agreed on continued engagement without recognition of the Taliban until there is progress on human rights. While some Afghan civil society groups have rejected all engagement, others see it necessary to relieve the economic crisis.

But all this will mean little if current humanitarian funding levels also do not improve. A drastic loss of aid will leave many Afghans poorer and hungrier.

sa/ma