GPC Protection Messages on Afghanistan, November 2021

The following messages reflect priority protection gaps in Afghanistan, which need urgent action by senior leadership at regional and global levels. Please refer to the Afghanistan Protection Analysis Update (PAU) for comprehensive protection risk analysis and national-level recommendations. 

Key messages

1. Endorse and fully operationalize a common position that female aid workers should be free to carry out their professional responsibilities, including travel and engagement with communities.

2. In light of the creation of a new mandate for the Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan, enable and resource complementary mechanisms to support monitoring and reporting on the human rights situation.

3. Echoing the clear calls from protection, human rights and civil society actors in Afghanistan, provide urgently needed flexible, sustained and direct support to frontline NGOs and humanitarian organizations to enable scaled-up programming that integrates protection and meets the rapidly growing emergency needs of people.

4. Act on and implement commitments to women’s protection, participation, and rights, including through stand-alone programming for women and girls, GBV prevention and response and protection measures for women human rights defenders.

5. Continue to build on and support best practices forged by national organizations in engaging with de facto authorities in a principled manner, supporting humanitarian access, staff and operational safety, protection by presence and influencing efforts.