CARE, a major humanitarian organization, said on Tuesday that it would resume health and nutrition operations in Afghanistan, provided the necessary assurance from the Ministry of Public Health that our female staff will be able to carry out their work safely and unfettered, the statement read.
CARE had previously halted activities in response to the de facto authorities’ decision to prohibit all women from working for NGOs operation in Afghanistan as of December 24, 2022.
CARE has been working in Afghanistan since 1961, but after the 1979 Russian invasion, it temporarily halted its operation. Resuming activities in 1989 from a new base in Peshawar, Pakistan, it provided aid to Afghanistan until 2002, when it moved its headquarters back to Kabul.
CARE programs in Afghanistan health and nutrition, humanitarian action, women empowerment. Currently, there have 30 mobile Health Teams in 7 provinces.
The statement noted, “Our female colleagues are an essential part of our organization, and we cannot deliver a principled response without them, so we welcome the opportunity to resume our health and nutrition operations given the scope of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. That said, CARE depends on male and female staff to respond to various challenges facing the Afghan people.”
While we remain optimistic that the ban will be lifted, we will continue exploring alternatives that will allow male and female workers to do life-saving work for people in all sectors, particularly Afghan women and girls, the statement read.
