The country’s situation has disproportionately affected women, with greater problems doing paid work.
The Human Right Watch (HRW) organization on Thursday asked international organizations to adjust the sanctions and restrictions that prevent the sending of financial aid to Afghanistan to avoid a generalized famine in the country.
“Afghanistan’s economy and social services are collapsing, and Afghans across the country are already suffering from acute malnutrition,” Human Rights Watch Asia Defense Director John Sifton said in a statement, linking the crisis to sanctions. Americans on the Asian country.
After the arrival to power of the Taliban last August, the paralysis of the sending of aid and financing by international organizations exacerbated the already serious crisis in the Asian country devastated by decades of war.
According to HRW, with the loss of income for millions of dollars, the increase in prices, a liquidity crisis and the shortage of cash, a large part of the population was deprived of access to food, water, shelter and medical care.
“People are really desperate. When you don’t have food on your plate, you can’t think of anything else. Nobody has money to buy fuel, to heat the house when it snows or to buy food, “a woman living in central Afghanistan told HRW.
The situation in the country has disproportionately affected women, with greater problems doing paid work due to the Taliban’s restrictions.
“Even in areas where women can still work, such as education and healthcare, they may not be able to meet Taliban requirements for a male family member to accompany women to work and vice versa.” , he detailed.
HRW refers in its report to local media reports that “more and more families are selling their children, almost always girls, apparently in order to marry, obtain food or pay debts.”
The rapid deterioration of the situation is driven by “the decisions of governments and international banking institutions not to deal directly with the Central Bank of Afghanistan due to bilateral and UN sanctions by the United States and other countries,” he explained. the human rights body.
This has increased liquidity problems for banks and a shortage of cash.
Although the Treasury Department decided to adapt the sanctions against Afghanistan to mitigate the economic and political impact, according to HRW, the US sanctions policy against the Taliban does not appear to comply with the new policies.
“Current US policies are not mitigating unwanted impacts or stating a clear political objective,” he said.
The UN World Food Program has issued multiple warnings about worsening food insecurity and the risk of large-scale deaths from hunger across Afghanistan in the coming months, it warned.
HRW urged governments, the UN, the World Bank and the Taliban to work towards an agreement allowing the Afghan Central Bank to access the international banking system.
The US, along with other governments, “should immediately undertake sanctions policy reviews, adjust current measures accordingly, and issue new licenses and guidance to facilitate liquidity and cash availability to address the humanitarian crisis,” urged.
“Widespread death and suffering from hunger can be prevented if governments act urgently to address Afghanistan’s economic crisis,” Sifton said in the statement. (I)
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