ROMA – It’s the world’s most serious women’s rights crisis: Human Rights Watch (HRW) writes bluntly. But it is not just a rights crisis because Afghanistan is also experiencing a worsening of the general humanitarian situation, with aid severely underfunded, thousands of Afghans forced to return from Pakistan and thousands of others who see emigration as their only hope for a more dignified life.
The women’s question. And When the Taliban returned on August 15, 2021, the country was the only one in the world where girls were banned from education beyond the sixth grade. Women were also denied freedom of movement, were banned from some forms of employment, had protections for those who had suffered gender-based violence dismantled, had a series of barriers to accessing healthcare and were prevented from playing sports and even walking in parks. The UN special rapporteur for Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, described the situation as “an institutionalized system of discrimination, segregation, disrespect for human dignity.” Since January 2024, the Taliban have arrested scores of women in Kabul and other provinces for wearing the hijab incorrectly and not respecting the prescribed dress code. UN experts report that some of the detainees were held in solitary confinement for days and subjected to physical violence, threats and intimidation. In addition to tightening restrictions on women’s rights, de facto authorities have also restricted freedom of expression and the media, and have arrested and tortured protesters, critics, and journalists.
The issue of aid funding. Cuts in development aid have contributed to worsening the humanitarian crisis in the country. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs writes that more than half the population, or about 23 million people, are food insecure. The United Nations humanitarian response plan for 2024 is underfunded: in August, donor countries contributed only 12 percent of the funds needed to actually support Afghans. The lack of foreign funding has damaged the national health system and made already widespread problems such as malnutrition and related diseases even more threatening. In addition, bans on education imposed on women lead to future shortages of female health workers, who according to the country’s rules may be the only ones to treat women who fall ill.
Returns from Pakistan. More than 665,000 Afghans have returned from Pakistan since September 2023, following a crackdown by the Islamabad government on foreign migrants and refugees. The new displaced people join the long-standing displaced who have lived in the country for years and survive only thanks to the efforts of non-governmental organizations and humanitarian agencies. Thousands of other Afghans who fled the country after the Taliban took over are living in limbo in Iran, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and other places around the world, awaiting resettlement, as resettlement processes in countries that have pledged to welcome at-risk Afghans, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Canada, are slow and inadequate.
The memory and the story of Fondazione?Pangea?. The memory is still clear in the stories of Foundation?Pangeawhich has been working in Afghanistan since 2002 with aid and support projects for women, through microcredit, schooling and financial education. A work that has continued in these three years since the return of the Taliban to power, despite all the imaginable difficulties. “We remember everything about August 15, three years ago,” says Luca Lo Presti, president of the Foundation, “the anxiety, the fear, the difficult decisions to make in a short time.
The priorities of those moments. The priority for ?Pangea?was to protect ?the activists and beneficiaries who have collaborated with us in Afghanistan for twenty years. In the emergency of those days we first of all burned the work documents, closed the office in Kabul and evacuated the staff. In a second phase the concern was instead not to leave the country, to continue working alongside the women and children. We could not leave them alone. Today – added Luca Lo Presti – the emergency is not over and we at Pangea we are going through it because Afghanistan continues to live its darkest moment”.
Gender apartheid: women do not exist. A real upheaval is taking place in the country Gender apartheid – Pangea operators in Afghanistan say – for women the situation worsens day by day, for them it is not possible to go to school, play sports, simply take care of themselves or go out alone, even going to the hospital for treatment is impossible, if you are not accompanied by a man, be it your husband, your brother or even your little son. Women do not exist, they are not people because they cannot enjoy human rights. If we add to all this hunger, extreme poverty, earthquakes, natural disasters, the situation is truly dramatic.
Pangea’s work today. “We decided to stay – Lo Presti continues – and to reorganize our projects and our activities,? listening to the needs of women and their families. Even though we were faced with a situation that was almost unbearable, we reopened? an office in Kabul? where we employed Afghan personnel, also guaranteeing our presence. ?We welcomed and helped women, men and children fleeing towards freedom; we helped the people who remained in the country by providing them with protection and aid with the distribution in an initial phase of food and blankets in 7 provinces of Afghanistan, reaching 7,000 families, over 60,000 children.
Humanitarian corridors. For those who managed to escape, the path of humanitarian and work corridors has opened up: in the last year Pangea has continued to support Afghan refugees with their families who were in Pakistan and who arrived in Italy with humanitarian or work corridors. This last year they arrived with the help of Pangea over 120 people.
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– 2024-08-15 17:12:23
