Over 134K Female Afghan Workers Without Pay for Months as Country's Assets Frozen By U.S.
Female Afghan teachers and health care workers have stopped receiving paychecks, due to paused disbursements and assets being held in American accounts owned by the Afghan Central Bank, the Associated Press reported.
According to a World Bank report, foreign aid makes up about 75 percent of Afghanistan's public expenditures, but since the Taliban took control of the country last month, funds have been frozen from outside of the country.
A local teacher, Aqela Noori, said that women are being severely affected, missing their salaries for two to three months.
About 120,000 female teachers and nearly 14,000 female health care workers have not been paid, and public salaries for men and women were cut off months before the Taliban takeover, during President Ashraf Ghani's rule.
According to Noori, the salaries of 8,400 out of a total 14,000 health workers that typically were paid directly by the World Bank had not been disbursed for two months, despite work continuing.
In a statement Tuesday, the World Bank said it was "deeply concerned" with the situation and disruption to health services, and that it is closely monitoring Afghanistan.
"We continue to follow events, and once the situation becomes clearer, we will be able to assess next steps," it said.
For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.
"We call on the international community, the World Bank and international humanitarian agencies not to suspend their humanitarian aid to Afghanistan," Noori said. "Don't leave Afghanistan alone in this difficult time."
Since the Taliban overran Kabul on August 15 and seized control of the country, the world has been watching to see whether they will re-create their harsh rule of the late 1990s.
The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund paused disbursements to the government, while the U.S. froze billons of dollars in assets held in American accounts by the Afghan Central Bank.
Noori said the non-payment of female health workers has undermined service delivery, especially in rural areas, leading to higher rates of maternal and infant mortality. She did not provide statistics.
Yalda Hamishi, an obstetrician, said the suspension of funds has caused a "catastrophe" in rural areas and that most female doctors have stopped working because they haven't been paid.
Teachers, meanwhile, addressed the new Taliban leadership directly, asking them to provide alternative jobs for the approximately 16,000 female teachers the Taliban have prohibited from teaching high school until a decision is made on their status. Most, they said, were the only breadwinners in the family.
They urged the Taliban to ensure a safe environment for both boys and girls to attend schools and to open schools to girls as soon as possible. Girls' schools from grades 7-12 remain closed.
