The reduction of funding for Afghanistan poses the greatest threat to assistance for the women of the country. This warning comes from Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).
Egeland emphasized that the decrease in support for non-governmental organizations primarily impacts the women and girls of this nation.
In 2022, the NRC assisted 772,484 Afghans, but by 2023 this number had dropped to 491,435 people. Last year, the humanitarian organization helped 216,501 individuals. Half of NRC's beneficiaries are women.
"Over the past two years, we have witnessed humanitarian organizations cutting programs and staff one after another. The greatest threat to programs aimed at assisting Afghan women is the reduction in funding. The biggest threat to the future well-being of Afghan women is the lack of education," Egeland stated.
The Taliban's takeover in August 2021 plunged millions into poverty. Foreign aid was abruptly halted. Sanctions were imposed on the country's authorities, and billions in Afghanistan's foreign currency reserves were frozen.
The UN and other organizations have urged the international community to continue supporting Afghanistan.
Organizations such as the Norwegian Refugee Council are helping to keep government services afloat through education and health programs.
However, women and girls face significant barriers to accessing healthcare and education services due to restrictions imposed by the Taliban and the ongoing shortage of female medical professionals.
Egeland remarked that Afghan women and girls have not forgotten how world leaders told them that education and human rights were their top priorities. "Now we can't even fund programs to support widows and single mothers," he told the Associated Press by phone from the western province of Herat.
Meanwhile, the international community has provided humanitarian aid in many countries where it disagreed with local policies.
According to Egeland, most of his discussions with representatives of the Taliban during his trip to the country focused on the need to resume education for women and girls.
"They still claim that this will happen, but the conditions are not right for it," he said. "They say they need to negotiate the terms."