By Lilah Wilder
Afghanistan is currently facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Approximately 18.9 million peopleare facing acute hunger and at least 9 million people are facing famine.[1] There are credible reports of people selling body parts or even selling their young daughters into marriage to survive.[2] The crisis stems from the collapse of Afghanistan’s economy after the Taliban took power in 2021 and the resulting implementation of severe economic sanctions on Afghanistan by the U.S. These sanctions halted development assistance and salaries for Afghan public servants, delinked Afghanistan’s banks from the global financial system, and froze Afghanistan’s foreign reserves.[3],[4]The ensuing economic collapse caused inflation of over 50%, leaving what assets and limited cash Afghans could access severely inadequate for their everyday needs.[5] The COVID-19 pandemic, recurring droughts, and June 2022 earthquakefurther exacerbated the crisis.[6] Although “no level of humanitarian funding will substitute the role of a functioning economy,” rising food insecurity, an increase in unemployment by 40%, and the collapsed healthcare system require immediate and continued humanitarian assistance to save millions of lives in Afghanistan.[7],[8]
Despite this need, Western donors have questioned delivering assistance to Taliban-controlled territory due to the group’s extremist ideology, connections to Al-Qaeda, and its poor human rights record.[9] An example demonstrating these concerns was the immediate halt of developmental assistance to Afghanistan by the United States following the Taliban’s takeover in 2021.[10] Additionally, donors have only provided $3 billion of the $4.4 billion in humanitarian assistance requested by UN aid agencies [JS1] for Afghanistan in 2022, causing the UN to appeal for $4.6 billion in 2023 to meet humanitarian needs.[11],[12] Some donors have even recently withdrawn funding after the Taliban banned women from attending universities and working at local and international NGOs in December 2022.[13] Concerns that the Taliban would intercept assistance and use it to continue undermining women’s rights have haunted Western donors. While these concerns are justified, there are always risks involved in sending assistance into crises and the priority of saving millions of lives should far outweigh these considerations. In fact, engaging with the Taliban on the ground has proven to be a necessary and effective part of humanitarian efforts to deliver life-saving assistance in Afghanistan.
Despite the political implications of working with the Taliban, when it comes to providing life-saving humanitarian assistance, donors should follow the fundamental humanitarian principle of neutrality. The Red Cross, one of the oldest and largest humanitarian organizations in the world, defines neutrality as providing assistance to those in need while abstaining from taking sides in political and other controversies.[14],[15] Remaining neutral can protect humanitarian workers from being targeted by authorities as they carry out their work. Another fundamental principle is independence, which requires that parties to a conflict do not interfere with or divert humanitarian assistance.[16] While there is always a risk of interference in crises, aid officials have reported fewer difficulties in Afghanistan compared to the crises in Syria, Somalia, and Iraq.[17] Additionally, UN officials report that engaging with the Taliban has allowed them to prevent aid interference and recover diverted aid within three to seven days.[18] If donors and aid agencies are concerned about interference, they should consider working together to standardize their approach to Taliban engagement while continuing to fund humanitarian assistance.[19]
One organization that has effectively worked with the Taliban to deliver aid is the World Food Programme (WFP). Prior to August 2021, WFP had worked with the Taliban to negotiate humanitarian access as the Taliban gradually took control of provinces across Afghanistan.[20] Today, according to WFP Afghanistan’s Andrew Patterson, the Taliban “have made it clear that we are welcome in this country, because they understand that the Afghan people need this assistance provided by the international community.”[21] Additionally, Patterson claimed that WFP has adhered to its principles of neutrality and independence when engaging with the Taliban by demanding free and unimpeded access to areas in need.[22] These negotiations by WFP have led to 19 million Afghans being provided with food and treatment for malnutrition between January and April of 2022 alone, including 3 million children under the age of five.[23],[24]
The UN and other aid agencies have also signed memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with the Taliban that document common objectives and lines of action.[25] Under the UN Transitional Engagement Framework (TEF), UN agencies, funds, and programs will engage and negotiate with the “de facto authorities” at national and sub-national levels to carry out their activities.[26] Between January and April 2022 these negotiations allowed UN agencies, funds, and programs to help 4.7 million people receive health care in Afghanistan; 374,000 children receive education support; and 2.1 million people receive access to protection, including shelters for survivors of gender-based violence.[27] While there is no proof that withholding assistance will persuade the Taliban to change their policies, there is evidence that delivering health, food, protection, and education assistance can build trust with local authorities and promote human rights in the long term.[28],[29] For example, in 2021, a UNICEF director said that years of conversations and negotiations with the Taliban built the trust they needed to access communities in the Wardak Province for the first time in twelve years and establish schools for girls.[30]
Looking ahead in both Afghanistan and other similar crises, the debate continues as to whether sanctions and the halting of aid is the correct move to punish political elites for their human rights records. As the situation in Afghanistan demonstrates, these actions continue to cause everyday people to suffer, while humanitarian principles of neutrality and independence guide aid workers to prioritize saving lives over other political or ideological interests. Although donors may be hesitant to fund assistance that the Taliban could tamper with, they must learn to be pragmatic, flexible, and willing to put the lives of those in need above these risks. Even more so, donors seeking to support the work of humanitarian organizations should let the same principles of neutrality and independence guide their own decision-making and generosity.
Notes
[1]. Jillian Watt and Kathryn Striffolino, “Interaction Members Raise Concerns on the Humanitarian Situation in Afghanistan,” InterAction, August 12, 2022, https://www.interaction.org/blog/interaction-members-raise-concerns-on-the-humanitarian-situation-in-afghanistan/.
[2]. “Secretary-General’s remarks to the High-level Pledging Event on Afghanistan [as delivered],” United Nations, March 2022, https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2022-03-31/secretary-generals-remarks-the-high-level-pledging-event-afghanistan-delivered.
[3]. “The World Bank in Afghanistan,” The World Bank, accessed March 16, 2023, https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/afghanistan/overview.
[4]. “Afghanistan Central Bank Reserves,” Congressional Research Service, March 13, 2023, https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF12052.
[5]. Dhabie Brown et al., “A Year into Taliban Rule, Afghans Face Spiraling Economic, Humanitarian Crises,” United States Institute of Peace, August 17, 2022, https://www.usip.org/publications/2022/08/year-taliban-rule-afghans-face-spiraling-economic-humanitarian-crises.
[6]. Dhabie Brown et al., “A Year into Taliban Rule,” 2022.
[7]. Brown et al., 2022.
[8]. “Afghanistan still a grave humanitarian crisis, senior aid official says,” United Nations News, February 28, 2023, https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/02/1134002.
[9]. “1999-2021: The U.S. War in Afghanistan,” Council on Foreign Relations, accessed March 16, 2023, https://www.cfr.org/timeline/us-war-afghanistan.
[10]. “The World Bank in Afghanistan,” The World Bank, accessed March 16, 2023, https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/afghanistan/overview.
[11]. “Afghanistan Humanitarian Response Plan 2022,” OCHA Financial Tracking Service, 2022, https://fts.unocha.org/appeals/1100/summary.
[12]. “Afghanistan Humanitarian Response Plan 2023,” OCHA Financial Tracking Service, 2023, https://fts.unocha.org/appeals/1117/summary.
[13]. “Report says donors ‘turning away’ from Taliban-ruled Afghanistan,” AlJazeera, February 23, 2023, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/2/23/report-says-donors-turning-away-from-taliban-ruled-afghanistan.
[14]. “Founding,” International Committee of the Red Cross, February 16, 2023, https://www.icrc.org/en/who-we-are/history/founding.
[15]. “The Fundamental Principles of the Red Cross: commentary,” International Committee of the Red Cross, January 1, 1979, https://www.icrc.org/en/doc/resources/documents/misc/fundamental-principles-commentary-010179.htm.
[16]. “The Fundamental Principles of,” International Committee of the Red Cross, 1979.
[17]. Lang, 2022.
[18]. Ibid.
[19]. Ibid.
[20]. “World Food Programme: The Taliban is willing to work with us and has welcomed our help,” CNBC International TV, 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEVuBy5-bV0.
[21]. “World Food Programme: The Taliban,” CNBC International TV, 2021.
[22]. Ibid.
[23]. “Afghanistan: Humanitarian Response Plan 2022,” April Monitoring Report, 2022, https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/sites/www.humanitarianresponse.info/files/documents/files/afg_hrp_2022_april_monitoring_report_lr.pdf.
[24]. “The situation in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security,” United Nationals General Assembly Security Council, June 15, 2022, https://unama.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/220615_sg_report_on_afghanistan_s.2022.485.pdf.
[25]. Hardin Lang, “Fit for Purpose: Getting Humanitarian Aid Right in Afghanistan One Year After the Taliban Takeover,” Refugees International, August 18, 2022, https://www.refugeesinternational.org/reports/2022/8/16/fit-for-purpose-getting-humanitarian-aid-right-in-afghanistan-one-year-after-the-taliban-takeover.
[26]. “United Nations Transitional Engagement Framework (TEF) for Afghanistan,” United Nations, accessed March 16, 2023, https://afghanistan.un.org/sites/default/files/2022-01/UN_Transitional_Engagement_Framework_Afghanistan_2022.pdf.
[27]. “The situation in Afghanistan,” United Nationals General Assembly Security Council, 2022.
[28]. Lang, “Fit for Purpose,” 2022.
[29]. Karim Merchant and Ingrid Nyborg, “Is cooperation with the Taliban a recipe for disaster or a new way forward?” Norwegian University of Life Sciences, September 27, 2021, https://www.nmbu.no/en/faculty/landsam/department/noragric/news/node/43917.
[30]. Sharyn Alfonsi, “Negotiating with the Taliban to save lives in Afghanistan,” CBSNews, December 12, 2021, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/taliban-afghanistan-60-minutes-2021-12-12/.
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