Swiss maintain humanitarian aid in Afghanistan, despite difficulties
The Taliban have imposed strict conditions on women, including banning them from working with NGOs.
Keystone / Stringer
Switzerland remains committed to humanitarian work in Afghanistan despite the ban on women working in NGOs, says the head of the Swiss development agency.
This content was published on
1 minute
NZZ am Sonntag/RTS/jc
Español
es
Suiza mantiene la ayuda humanitaria en Afganistán, pese a las dificultades
“It is now, when it is most difficult, that these people need us the most,” Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) director Patricia Danzi told NZZ am Sonntag in an interview.
She said the SDC was assessing how to use the CHF30 million ($33 million) budget effectively. Some of the Swiss funds could be used more in areas where Afghan women and men have fled, such as Pakistan. It is essential that women can continue to work in NGOs, she added.
The SDC coordination office currently operates from neighbouring Pakistan, as its office in Kabul was closed after the Taliban took control of the country in 2021. But Danzi said the Kabul office was still there. “The Taliban have put a note on the door saying that our diplomatic mission cannot be entered,” she told the newspaper.
Since their return to power, the Taliban have imposed severe restrictions on Afghan women, keeping them out of public jobs, forbidding them to attend secondary schools and universities, or to go to parks.
In late December, they banned NGOs from working with Afghan women, leading several organisations to suspend their activities. However, some NGOs were able to partially resume their activities after receiving assurances from the authorities that women could continue to work in the health sector.
What factors should be taken into account when inheriting Swiss citizenship abroad?
Should there be a limit to the passing on of Swiss citizenship? Or is the current practice too strict and it should still be possible to register after the age of 25?
Switzerland wants to spend CHF47 million on armed drones
This content was published on
The Swiss authorities are keen to buy long-distance combat drones as soon as possible, according to a Sunday newspaper report.
Trump tariffs: ‘I’m a bit perplexed’, says former US ambassador to Switzerland
This content was published on
The former US ambassador to Switzerland, Edward McMullen, says he is optimistic for the Alpine country with regard to the 31% tariff on imports imposed by US President Donald Trump.
Swiss Federal Court upholds Beny Steinmetz’s bribery conviction
This content was published on
Switzerland's highest court has upheld the conviction of French-Israeli mining magnate Beny Steinmetz for bribery of foreign public officials.
This content was published on
The Trump administration has imposed a 31% tariff on imports from Switzerland. Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter has warned against "giving in to alarmism" in an interview published on Saturday,
This content was published on
Scientists have shown that bonobos combine their calls into complex sound sequences that resemble combinations of human words.
This content was published on
Aid agencies in Afghanistan have few options, but they shouldn't pull out, argues Tooba Neda Safi, an Afghan journalist based in Lausanne.
This content was published on
Managers of a foundation set up to manage $3.5 billion in frozen Afghanistan central bank funds are meeting for the first time in Geneva.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.