The crisis in Afghanistan has been dominating the world’s news feeds for weeks now. The latest developments are a great cause for concern and there continue to be many uncertainties about the near future of the country.
With decades of experience in Afghanistan, Cordaid hopes to resume its activities in support of the Afghan people soon, despite the many challenges.
For now, we offer you a selection of the most pressing questions and answers about the recent events in Afghanistan.
What does Cordaid do in Afghanistan?
For more than 20 years, Cordaid has been working on aid and development programmes in Afghanistan, such as health care, emergency aid, peacebuilding, security and justice and economic development.
What options does Cordaid have in Afghanistan, now that the Taliban are in power?
The situation is very volatile at the moment and we will have to wait and see what the Taliban’s disposition will be towards aid organisations. So far they have indicated that they want to cooperate, that they will not hinder aid and that they also want to cooperate internationally. The problem, however, is that the Taliban are very fragmented. The Taliban in the capital of Kabul are not necessarily aligned with the Taliban groups that hold power in the provinces. This means there is still a lot of uncertainty about which activities we could continue and when.
What can Cordaid do for Afghans who might be in danger?
We put a lot of pressure on politicians in the Netherlands to adopt a more generous refugee policy for Afghans who may be at risk because of their work for the Dutch military mission and groups such as women’s and human rights activists and journalists. For example, we created a petition that generated more than 20,000 signatures within a few days and was well-received by a number of MPs.
Will Cordaid collaborate with the Taliban?
The Taliban have played an important role in Afghanistan in recent decades and continued to do so during the years of the democratic governments under President Karzai and President Ghani. Now that they have reclaimed their position of power, they will form a government and possibly even remain in power in the long term. To be able to provide support to the Afghan people, we will also need to talk to representatives of the Taliban. However, we will never give any funds to this group and we will always uphold our principle of impartiality and operational independence.
What could I do for people in Afghanistan?
Because working in Afghanistan was already extremely complex, even before the Taliban took over, we would like to advise people to support a professional aid organisation. Own private initiatives are too risky at the moment.
Can I donate money to Cordaid for Afghanistan?
We hope that we will be able to resume our work in Afghanistan soon, thanks to years of experience and a large network of aid workers. But first, our staff and partners need to be safe and we need to get access to the areas where our support is needed.
When you donate to Cordaid, your support an international and professional organisation that provides aid in the world’s largest and most urgent crises. We will resume our work in Afghanistan as soon as we can. Given the uncertain situation, we are unable to say exactly when that will be. In the meantime, your financial support for our mission will be highly appreciated.
You can make a financial contribution through the Dutch version of our website or contact us to further discuss possibilities for collaboration.