“All of us in the United Nations suffer a reinforcement of the prohibition of women who work with us … we simply cannot operate without women.” Said Arafat Jamal, representative of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) of Afghanistan, a day after the agencies warned that the measures of de facto authorities have affected assistance to save lives for hundreds of thousands of people.
Last Sunday, de facto The Afghan security forces prevented national members and contractors for the UN from entering the compounds of the global body in Kabul, the UN mission in the country, UNAMA, said on Thursday, in a statement.
Closed centers
And in the light of the restrictions, on Tuesday, the UNHCR temporarily closed its cash and support centers for vulnerable Afghans, both on the border and in areas where many people have returned from Iran, Pakistan and elsewhere since the beginning of the year.
The registration process involves providing biometric data, together with detection and interviews, work that would be “completely impossible without Afghan working women,” emphasized the ACNUR officer, and pointed out that more than one in two returns are women.
“This was an operational decision,Mr. Jamal continued. “It is not a decision taken to punish anyone or make a statement, but simply demonstrates that we cannot work without workers in certain circumstances.. “
Since the beginning of the year, some 2.6 million Afghans have returned from neighboring countries, “many not by choice,” said UNHCR.
Mr. Jamal said that the rhythm of returns continues to increase, with almost 100,000 people crossing Pakistan only in the first week of September “,”, “Stretch our capabilities and capabilities of this country to the limit“
Aftershocks Reverberate
Echoing those concerns, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned that Afghanistan is still recovering from the 6.0 magnitude earthquake that hit the provinces of Kunar and Nangarharharharharharharharharharharharharharharharharharhus on August 31, followed by multiple severe replicas.
At least 1,172 children have died, more than half of the whole number of deaths, said UNICEF Country representative in Afghanistan, Dr. Tajudeen Oyewale.
In informing journalists in Geneva through Videolink, Dr. Oyewale described young victims of disaster in Machkandol in Nangahar, three girls and a boy rescued from the emergency.
“For the girls it was even more sobering; they were lost; they have lost their families, their homes have been destroyed,” he said. “Family cattle have died. And for these young women and this young man, the future is completely bleak.”
The provinces affected by the earthquake are mountainous and extremely remote, the UNICEF official continued.
Earth roads stuck
“It is full of steep land, difficult to navigate … It took us about three and a half hours by car, 40 minutes of which they were in Paved Road and the rest was through mountain land roads, many turns with vehicles that approached and especially with rocks that fall on the road.”
Humanitarians warn that the earthquake has aggravated the existing acute problems of Afghanistan.
In total, the crisis has gained more than 2,164 lives, at least 3,428 people have been injured and at least 6,700 households have been destroyed or severely damaged.
“Behind these numbers there are children who are left alone in the rubble and the families shattered in the blink of an eye … UNICEF literally goes to an additional effort and does what is necessary to reach these children and families with the support they need,” Dr. Oyewale insisted.