NGO concern for widows denied aid

The non-governmental organisation Care International has expressed concern about the fate of Afghan women, especially widows and their children, as a result of last month’s edict by the Taliban authorities forbidding women to work for UN agencies and NGOs - except in the health sector and in particular circumstances. Care used to provide food assistance to 7,000 of the poorest widows in the Afghan capital Kabul, but was unable to continue to do so because it needed to employ Afghan women to carry out the distributions, the BBC reported on Monday. This necessity arose because Care had to ensure that the widows did not come into contact with men - which is forbidden under the Taliban’s strict interpretation of Islam. Acting UN Humanitarian Coordinator Carolyn McAskie had on Friday expressed her “continued concern” about the edict banning women from employment in aid agencies. While welcoming the Taliban’s decision to allow the reopening of the WFP-supported ‘widow’s bakeries’ - entirely staffed by women, many of them widows - in Kabul, she said she would welcome suggestions from the authorities on “how to improve access for humanitarian agencies to all vulnerable people in a culturally appropriate way that also corresponds with international law and standards.”