Report: Taliban interfering with NGO work in Afghanistan

A U.S. watchdog reported Wednesday that a Taliban fighter shot his rifle into the air at a food distribution event in Afghanistan, harassing nongovernmental organisations.

Last December, the Taliban banned Afghan women from working at NGOs for not wearing the hijab properly and violating gender segregation. They stated this restriction included Afghanistan-based U.N. offices and agencies in April.

The country’s intelligence service, which reports to the Taliban’s leadership in Kandahar, zealously enforces the policy, even if their main spokesman says U.N. activities in Afghanistan are unimpeded.

SIGAR’s last quarterly report cited Taliban influence and harassment of NGOs, including the firearm incident.

Organizations confront security hazards and harassment at Taliban checkpoints, unannounced Taliban visits to NGO offices, continuous requests for work plans, budgets, operations, and staff, and growing engagement in project decision-making and implementation.
According to the research, the UN’s April restriction on women workers suggests that they will “continue to interfere” in NGO operations, hurting Afghans.

The U.N. told SIGAR that Taliban policies, weak administration, and friction between central and provincial institutions make humanitarian response difficult.

“This dysfunction is expected to limit the ability to implement policies which sustain critical public and basic services and reduce needs,” the report added, with the U.N. warning the watchdog of a “more restrictive environment.”

After the Taliban takeover in August 2021 and the economic collapse, aid agencies have been providing Afghans with food, education, and healthcare. The Taliban’s ban on women working at NGOs—and now the U.N.—has hurt distribution.

Afghanistan’s Economy Ministry, which oversees NGOs, denied SIGAR’s findings. Abdul Rahman Habib, ministry spokesman, denied checkpoint harassment.

He said all assistance agencies and U.N. offices in Afghanistan received a “special procedure” to improve NGO performance and handle difficulties.

He reaffirmed the ministry’s December order. Afghan women can only work for NGOs in health and education.

SIGAR’s report followed a closed-door U.N. summit on Afghanistan, which the global body described as an event when states and organizations tried to find consensus on human rights, governance, counterterrorism, and anti-drug measures.

The Qatar summit excluded the Taliban.