FAQs

Yes! With your help, we’ve been working in Afghanistan for more than 20 years. Together, we’ve been making a difference in the lives of children and families in one of the world’s most challenging contexts. And we won’t stop now.

With you and our team of local staff , we will get help to those who need it most. Donations from generous New Zealanders have helped fund food aid programmes, health and nutrition services, water, hygiene, and sanitation activities, and education initiatives in underserved communities in Afghanistan. In 2022, New Zealand giving helped our team in Afghanistan to reach almost 1.4 million people!

Right now, your kindness is reaching hungry children and desperate families who urgently need support.

Like you, we remain firmly committed to the children and families of Afghanistan. Together, we hope to reach more than 2.1 million Afghan children over the next three years, meeting their needs today while working towards a better and brighter tomorrow.
 

In December 2022, Afghanistan’s defacto authorities banned Afghan women from working for NGOs. Around one third of World Vision’s team in Afghanistan are women. They are nurses, doctors, teachers, nutrition experts, team leaders, community health workers and more. They have access to people and contexts that their male colleagues can’t reach. They’re critical to safeguarding the communities we serve. They are essential to our work. As with a number of other humanitarian agencies, we made the tough decision to suspend all our activities in Afghanistan as we cannot deliver a suitable aid programme that reaches the most vulnerable without our female staff.

We’re already seeing positive signs. A number of exceptions to the ban have now been made, which means we’ve been able to restart the life-saving health, nutrition, and food assistance programmes you make possible. On 8 January 2023, we received assurances from authorities that the ban doesn’t apply to our health and nutrition staff or support workers. And it’s safe for women to resume these activities. Then in February 2023 we were able to resume our education and food assistance activities!

We hope that the ban will be lifted in its entirety and that we will be able to resume all our programmes. Our aim is to lift the suspension when female staff are allowed to work across all humanitarian sectors.
 

Please be assured that our staff, both women and men, are still being paid and cared for during this time.

Many of the team are women, including senior leaders. Women are always at the heart of our work, so the impact of the ban is devastating. We can’t fully respond to the urgent needs of Afghans until the decision is reversed.

In Afghanistan, just like here in New Zealand, women fill many vital roles. They are nurses, doctors, teachers, nutrition experts, team leaders and community health workers, among other things. Our female staff have access to populations and contexts that their male colleagues cannot reach. They’re critical to safeguarding the communities we serve.

Some good news: we’ve been able to restart the life-saving food assistance, health, and nutrition programmes you make possible. It’s because we’ve received assurances from authorities that the ban does not apply to women working in these areas.

Please keep the children of Afghanistan, as well as our staff there, in your prayers. Your kindness is so appreciated and so very needed.
 

Like you, we care deeply about the needs and rights of Afghan children. We’re extremely concerned about their situation. The stories we’re hearing from our local staff are heart-breaking.

The decision to ban women from working for NGOs is just the latest in a rollback of women’s rights. On March 23, 2022, Afghanistan’s de facto authorities banned girls from attending school beyond Grade 6. That means girls can no longer get a high-school education. On December 20, 2022, female students were banned from attending universities in Afghanistan.

But it’s not just women and girls who are suffering. Right now, more than half the population – including 14 million children – need urgent humanitarian aid and protection. It’s estimated 97% of Afghans face living in poverty this year. More than 1.1 million children under age 5 are acutely malnourished and at risk of starvation.

We’ve restarted the food assistance, health, and nutrition programmes that you make possible to help children in need. It’s because we’ve received assurances from authorities that the ban does not apply to women working in these areas.

We are hopeful that the de facto authorities will fully lift the ban, which will allow us to restart the rest of our vital, life-saving work in the country.