![]() ![]() ![]() We have been given verbal assurances on these issues in most parts of the country - and will continue to press the Taliban to adhere to humanitarian principles and ensure we can reach those in greatest need. I told Taliban leaders I met with in Kabul that for humanitarian action to be most effective, we need both our female and male colleagues to have equal rights, just as it’s important for both girls and boys to be able to go to school. We need the international community to realize the urgency here: The economic crisis will only exacerbate humanitarian needs. We are not here to weigh in on political issues or political solutions to the current crisis. As a humanitarian organization, we do not advocate the conditionality of aid. Some countries and individual actors have suggested that the Taliban must meet certain conditions in exchange for funds. Failed rains drove hunger levels up - one in three people did not know where their next meal would come from. Some 3.5 million Afghans were internally displaced. More than 18 million people urgently needed humanitarian aid. We also need financial instruments that enable donors to pool large sums of relief money, to help us navigate the complexity of international sanctions and restrictions that make it hard for our aid to reach those who need it most.Įven before the latest seismic political shift in Afghanistan, the country faced a dire humanitarian crisis. Aid groups have nowhere near the capacity to plug the enormous gaps that remain in the health system. A special agreement was signed by four agencies to set up mechanisms that would allow direct funding to hospitals and clinics in Afghanistan - but that won’t be enough. The alliance recently formed by key aid groups to address the health crisis is a step in the right direction. If doctors and nurses are not paid, hospitals will be forced to shut their doors. The World Bank suspended $600 million in funds that form the backbone of the country’s health system. We need more out-of-the-box thinking, so that banks can reopen and social services can restart. This lifeline has been largely cut off because the international community is grappling with how to work with a Taliban-run government - including ministers on international sanctions lists. Some 75 percent of Afghanistan’s public expenditure had in recent years been funded by foreign aid. In addition to the liquidity emergency, a donor funding freeze has contributed to crippling public services. Now imagine this dilemma multiplied for every employer across Afghanistan. ![]() Instead, we are forced to purchase tents, blankets and food in neighboring Pakistan. This has left us struggling to pay our staff and suppliers in Afghanistan. The banking crisis has left several Afghan banks closed and others operating at limited capacity. We have been unable to securely move aid money into the country to buy emergency supplies for families who face homelessness and hunger this winter. Our organization, the Norwegian Refugee Council, is one of many trying to provide assistance in this new and challenging environment. This means finding safe payment channels to get aid flowing and safeguarding humanitarian action from international sanctions and other counterterrorism financing measures. The international community must urgently broker multilateral agreements to stabilize the economy and fund public services. The political conflict with the Taliban must not punish the civilian population. This sent shock waves through the banking system and prompted capital control measures by the new Taliban leaders, triggering a lethal domino effect that closed banks and paralyzed economic life. When the Taliban toppled Afghanistan’s government in August, the country suddenly lost access to more than $9 billion in central bank reserves, frozen by the Biden administration. Without functioning banks and liquidity, ordinary Afghans are cut off from their life savings and have no way of surviving. They can no longer support their extended families or keep vital public services afloat. I met teachers, health workers and water engineers who have not been paid since May. Mothers I sat down with in makeshift tents told me their families have no income and no reserves, and they’re worried that their children will starve and freeze to death this winter. And unless money starts flowing soon, a total economic collapse will plunge Afghans into a humanitarian catastrophe. Traveling around Kabul a few weeks ago, the city felt worlds apart from my last visit in 2019 - and not just because a 20-year war had finally ended. ![]()
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