Representational image of a Taliban fighter standing guard as women wait to receive food rations distributed by a humanitarian aid group, in Kabul, Afghanistan
| Photo Credit: AP

The Taliban says it will close all national and foreign nongovernmental groups in Afghanistan employing women. It comes two years after they told NGOs to suspend the employment of Afghan women, allegedly because they didn’t wear the Islamic headscarf correctly.

In a letter published on X Sunday (December 29, 2024) night, the Economy Ministry warned that failure to comply with the latest order would lead to NGOs losing their licence to operate in Afghanistan.

The ministry said it was responsible for the registration, coordination, leadership and supervision of all activities carried out by national and foreign organisations.

The government was once again ordering the stoppage of all female work in institutions not controlled by the Taliban, according to the letter.

“In case of lack of cooperation, all activities of that institution will be canceled and the activity license of that institution, granted by the ministry, will also be canceled.”

It’s the Taliban’s latest attempt to control or intervene in NGO activity.

Earlier this month, the U.N. Security Council heard that an increasing proportion of female Afghan humanitarian workers were prevented from doing their work even though relief work remains essential.

According to Tom Fletcher, a senior U.N. official, the proportion of humanitarian organizations reporting that their female or male staff were stopped by the Taliban’s morality police has also increased.

The Taliban deny they are stopping aid agencies from carrying out their work or interfering with their activities.

They have already barred women from many jobs and most public spaces and also excluded them from education beyond sixth grade.

An Afghan delegation will attend the upcoming UN climate change summit in Azerbaijan, the foreign ministry spokesman told AFP on Saturday, marking a first since the Taliban government came to power.

Afghanistan is ranked as the country sixth most vulnerable to climate change and Taliban authorities have pushed to participate in COP summits, saying their political isolation shouldn’t bar them from international climate talks.

Having tried and failed to attend UN climate change summits in Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, this year an invitation from COP29 hosts Azerbaijan came through.

“A delegation of the Afghan government will be in Baku” for the summit, which opens on Monday in the Azerbaijani capital, said foreign ministry spokesman, Abdul Qahar Balkhi.

It was not immediately clear in what capacity the delegation would participate at COP29, but sources indicated it would have observer status.

No state has recognised the Taliban authorities since they swept to power in 2021, ousting the Western-backed administration.

Officials from the country’s National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) have repeatedly said climate change should not be politicised and called for environment-related projects put on hold due to the Taliban takeover to be reinstated.

“Climate change is a humanitarian subject,” deputy NEPA head Zainulabedin Abid told AFP in a recent interview.

“We have called on the international community not to relate climate change matters with politics.”

Azerbaijan, a fossil fuel-rich former Soviet republic wedged between Russia and Iran, will host the COP29 from November 11-22.

Baku reopened its embassy in Kabul in February this year, though it has not officially recognised the Taliban government.

NEPA had been invited to other environmental summits in the past but did not receive visas, the agency’s climate change director, Ruhollah Amin, told AFP in a recent interview.

The agency has received an invitation and is working on securing visas to attend the UN summit on desertification in Saudi Arabia, Amin added, but it’s unclear if they will receive them or what level of participation they would have.

Afghanistan was a signatory to the 2015 landmark Paris Agreement, under which almost every country in the world agreed to slash emissions to limit soaring global temperatures.

NEPA was preparing its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) — expected to be updated and strengthened every five years — before the Taliban came to power.

‘All aspects of our life’

NEPA has since been working to complete the NDC, despite uncertainty that it would be acknowledged by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat.

“In 2023, we decided that at least we have to finalise this document, even if the secretariat accepts this or not,” said Amin.

“But as a national issue… we have to complete this document.”

NEPA director-general Mawlawi Matiul Haq Khalis — a former Taliban negotiator and son of prominent jihadist figure Mawlawi Yunus Khalis — had criticised Afghanistan’s exclusion from last year’s COP in Dubai and urged other nations to facilitate the country’s participation in Baku, local media have reported.

He also called for Afghanistan to be compensated for damages caused by climate change.

Afghanistan’s total greenhouse gas emissions were only 0.08 percent as of a 2019 national report, according to Amin.

“It’s very little,” he said. Nevertheless, Afghanistan is one of “the most affected (countries) from the impact of climate change”, he added.

“It affects all aspects of our life.”

The United Nations has also called for action to help Afghanistan build resilience and for the country’s participation in international talks.

Among the poorest countries in the world after decades of war, Afghanistan is particularly exposed to the effects of climate change, which scientists say is spurring extreme weather.

Drought, floods, land degradation and declining agricultural productivity are key threats, the UN development agency’s representative in Afghanistan, Stephen Rodriques, said in 2023.

Flash floods in May killed hundreds and swamped swaths of agricultural land in Afghanistan, where 80 percent of people depend on farming to survive.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

People had just seconds to flee their homes when the terrifying sound of earth cracking open reverberated across western Afghanistan’s Herat province.

Nobody knows for sure how many people died in a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on October 7, 2023, or in the strong aftershocks that followed. The Taliban government estimated that at least 4,000 perished. The U.N. gave a far lower figure of about 1,500. Survivors stopped counting, exhausted after digging through dirt to save their loved ones or bury them.

Major challenge for the Taliban

It was the deadliest natural disaster to strike Afghanistan in recent memory.

It was also another major challenge for the Taliban since they seized power in 2021, a test of their readiness to lead a country beset by economic hardship, isolation, devastation from decades of war, and vulnerability to shocks like earthquakes and climate change.

“At that time, the government really cooperated in transporting patients and the dead,” said Ismatullah Rahmani, from the quake’s epicenter in Zinda Jan district, where every home, usually built of mud and timber, was levelled. His brother and nephew were killed, and he spent hours trying to free his wife from under 1 1/2-meter (60 inches) of soil. She survived.

“They opened hospitals and provided water and food to people for free,” he told The Associated Press from his new home in Zinda Jan. He said the Taliban went to camps and helped survivors over several months, a blessing ahead of the harsh Herat winter.

“After that, our aid stopped,” said Rahmani.

Charities had stepped in to build housing for survivors. But the accommodation they built lacks walls so there is no privacy, while the poor design leaves them vulnerable to storms or heavy rainfall. Houses either have no bathrooms or the bathrooms don’t have a roof.

Rahmani’s village, Naib Rafi, still doesn’t have a health clinic or a school. Instead, children are learning in tents.

No financial assistance from Government

The government didn’t provide financial assistance, he said. Senior officials and Islamic scholars visited communities a few times, listened to people’s problems and left.

Ahmadullah Muttaqi, spokesman and member of the Herat Earthquake Commission, said authorities worked with charities and nongovernmental groups to provide shelter and medical assistance.

“People’s problems haven’t been solved, of course, but the first necessity is building houses until they stand on their own feet. They have been given food and hospitals are still working,” he told AP. He said they were still working to rebuild mosques, schools, madrassas and parks.

He did not answer questions about authorities’ preparedness for future disasters.

Afghans were already struggling with displacement, food insecurity and poverty before the quake struck, and the tragedy put further pressure on public services. Aid agencies, which have been propping up Afghan health care and education for the past three years under the Taliban, became even more thinly stretched.

The International Rescue Committee set up feeding corners after the earthquake so mothers could safely breastfeed children and get nutrition counselling. The relief agency said it also fixed water systems, provided emergency cash, hygiene kits, medical and mental health support to tens of thousands of people.

But, with other global crises raging, such support is finite.

International funding for Afghanistan has received less than a third of its target. Changing political priorities, economic troubles and wars are hitting donors’ pockets, especially those in the West.

Widespread opposition to the Taliban’s treatment of Afghan women and girls is also having an effect.

“There is donor fatigue, for sure, but perhaps the bigger problem is a nervousness from many donors about supporting anything but the most urgent life-saving aid,” said Mark Calder from World Vision International.

The U.N. says international recognition of the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan is nearly impossible while restrictions remain on female education and employment.

The Taliban reject this position, demanding Afghanistan’s seat at the U.N. and saying that sanctions and the country’s continued isolation are hurting people.

Investment in quality development assistance would benefit Afghan women and girls disproportionately and it’s sometimes in their name that a reduction in aid to Afghanistan is promoted, said Calder.

“It’s difficult to imagine that Afghan communities are much better prepared for natural disasters than they were a year ago,” he added.

Herat authorities have been unable to fully meet humanitarian needs, while damaged infrastructure has hampered recovery efforts. A near-total reliance on aid organisations for basics like health care and shelter has left people exposed.

Four of Gul Ahmad Osmani’s children died in the disaster. He heard boys screaming under the soil in his village. It was impossible to pull them out, he said.

He and his surviving family members spent the winter in a tent. “The government took care of us, keeping my wife and children in a camp, but we didn’t see anything from the government that was specifically from them, like flour, cooking oil or rice,” Osmani said. “Our own people, the people of Afghanistan, brought food for several days.”

The helping hands came from other cities, districts and provinces to clear away rubble, bury the dead, and distribute everyday items like clothing.

But it’s been almost six months since NGOs or well-wishers came to help the residents of Zinda Jan. A kind doctor from northern Baghlan province donated money recently.

“There are still earthquakes and these new houses are heavy,” said Osmani. “Children are afraid. The help for the earthquake did not help us.”

Yunis Safi, a businessman in Kabul, knows very well the importance of showing off your phone if you want something done.

Also read: Afghanistan since Taliban takeover

“In Afghanistan, your phone is your personality,” he said, smiling, a jewel-encrusted ring on each hand. One boasts an emerald, the other a fat Russian diamond. “When you go to a meeting with the government, the better your phone, the more they respect you.” Mr. Safi runs a phone shop in the posh Shar-e-Naw neighborhood. An armed guard stands outside. The iPhone 15 Pro Max adorns the shop shelves, retailing for $1,400. He has customers ready to part with this sum of money, which may come as a surprise to some given the country’s economic woes and more than half the population relying on humanitarian aid to survive.

Also read: Timeline | The Taliban’s rapid advance across Afghanistan

Afghanistan’s finances were on shaky ground even before the Taliban seized power in 2021. The budget relied heavily on foreign aid and corruption was rife. The takeover sent Afghanistan’s economy into a tailspin, billions in international funds were frozen, and tens of thousands of highly skilled Afghans fled the country and took their money with them.

But, even amid difficult conditions, some businesses are making money out of Taliban rule. Women are reduced to customers, however, as authorities have barred them from most jobs, including retail. None of Mr. Safi’s 78 staff are women.

He has tapped into a diverse consumer base — the ones hungry for the latest iPhone release and those happier with simple handsets, which make up the bulk of his sales and sell for between $20 and $200.

The Taliban used to attack phone towers and threaten telecom companies, accusing them of colluding with United States and other international forces in helping track insurgents’ movements through mobile phone signals. Now, they’re investing in the 4G mobile networks.

The Communications Ministry says 2 million new SIM cards have been issued in the past two years and that subscriber numbers are increasing. Ministry spokesperson Enayatullah Alokozai said the government was plowing $100 million into the telecom sector and had fully restored hundreds of towers.

There are 22.7 million active SIM cards in a country of 41 million people. Of these, 10 million are for voice calls and the rest are for mobile internet.

According to Trade Ministry figures, phone imports have risen. More than 1,584 tons of phones came into Afghanistan in 2022. Last year, it was 1,895 tons.

Mr. Safi said he has many Taliban customers and it’s the younger ones who prefer iPhones. “Of course they need smartphones. They use social media, they like making videos. The iPhone has better security than Samsung. The camera resolution, processor, memory are all better. Afghans use their smartphones like anyone else.” Mr. Safi has the iPhone 15 Pro Max, wears an Apple Watch Ultra and owns three cars.

Business was bad immediately after the Taliban takeover but it’s improving, Mr. Safi said. “The people buying the new release iPhones are the ones with relatives abroad sending money to Afghanistan.” Remittances are a lifeline, although they’re less than half of what they were before the Taliban took power and the banking sector collapsed.

At the raucous Shahzada Market in Kabul, hundreds of money exchangers clutch stacks of the local currency, the Afghani, and noisily hawk their wares. They occupy every floor, stairwell, nook and cranny.

Abdul Rahman Zirak, a senior official at the money exchange market, estimates that $10 million changes hands daily. The diaspora sends mostly U.S. dollars to families, who exchange it for the Afghani.

There used to be more ways to send money to Afghanistan before the Taliban seized control. But there are no more links to  Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) or international banking and that’s a major reason why business is brisk at the market, he said.

“The work of money exchangers has increased and strengthened,” Mr. Zirak said. “Money transfers come from Canada, the U.S., Europe, Australia, Arab nations and other neighboring countries.” Trade becomes hectic during the holidays. During the holy month of Ramadan, 20,000 people visited the market daily and it took more than 90 minutes to enter, he said.

“If the sanctions are removed and the assets are unfrozen, then maybe our business will decrease. But I don’t see that happening. Many don’t have bank accounts. Unemployment is high, so people send money to Afghanistan. Our business will be needed for years to come.” Irfanullah Arif, who runs Haqqani Books, a specialist retailer of Islamic texts, is also upbeat about his fortunes. The majority of his customers are teachers and students at religious schools, or madrassas.

There are at least 20,000 madrassas in Afghanistan. The Taliban want to build more. Last year, the supreme leader reportedly ordered the recruitment of 1,00,000 madrassa teachers.

While Mr. Arif’s business suffered like everyone else’s in the chaotic aftermath of the takeover, there was another reason. “All the students left the madrassas and went to work for the [Taliban] government,” said Mr. Arif.

The Taliban’s push for religious education has given him some relief. Last year, he sold 25,000 textbooks.

But there’s a price to pay for success. Mr. Arif imports everything and the Taliban are laser-focused on collecting revenue, even on Islamic literature.

Mr. Arif pays a tax of 170 Afghanis ($2.36) on a carton of 100 books, the shipping cost for which is 500 Afghanis ($6.95). Taxes on his bookstore have tripled under Taliban rule.

“That’s why books are expensive in Afghanistan,” he sighed. “With the increase of madrassas, our trade has gone up, but so have the taxes.”