The Taliban last December barred Afghan women from working at nongovernmental organizations, or NGOs, allegedly because they were not wearing the hijab — the Islamic headscarf — correctly or observing gender segregation rules. In April, they said the ban extended to U.N. offices and agencies in Afghanistan. There are exemptions in some sectors, like health care and education.

Jan Egeland, the secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, met officials in the capital Kabul and Kandahar to persuade them to reverse the ban on the organization’s female staff.

“We have an agreement to start immediate talks on a temporary arrangement that will enable our female colleagues to work with and for women and others in Kandahar,” Egeland told The Associated Press. “If we get a provincial exemption in Kandahar, we should be able to replicate it elsewhere.”

In January, the Taliban said they were working on guidelines for women to return to work at NGOs. Egeland said earlier this week that key officials told him they are close to finalizing these guidelines. But they were unable to give a timeline or details when pressed.

The temporary arrangement would be in place while the nationwide guidelines are developed. The interim arrangement would cover all sectors and all programming by the Norwegian Refugee Council, he said.

Aid agencies have been providing food, education and health care support to Afghans in the wake of the Taliban takeover in August 2021 and the economic collapse that followed it. But distribution has been severely impacted by December’s edict.

Egeland said he made it clear to the Taliban that the agency needs to be able to deliver aid as it did before the ban, and with women.

Years of humanitarian diplomacy in Afghanistan have paved the way for the positive feedback from Kandahar, with the Norwegian Refugee Council negotiating with the Taliban to provide education and relief in areas under their control during the war, he said.

“They knew we never broke any rules in terms of Afghan culture, we go way back, but we have to be firm,” Egeland told the AP.

He insisted the organization will not employ male-only teams or deliver male-only aid work.

Egeland said there is agreement within the Ministry of Economy, which oversees NGOs in Afghanistan, that a regional deal could open a pathway to a national one.

“I have a strong sense they understand that if aid operations are cut for a longer period, they may not come back. They realize time is running out.”

The Taliban have repeatedly told senior humanitarian officials visiting Afghanistan since December that the NGO restrictions are temporary suspensions, not a ban.

Washington (Reuters) – The United States on Wednesday said it will boost support for the Haitian police as they battle armed gangs and will speed up delivery of aid to a country suffering from crippling shortages of basic goods due to a gang blockade of a key fuel terminal.

Saudi Arabia and the United States spend annually billions of dollars in helping underdeveloped nations, for all the good these two countries do, yet they end up receiving a lot of hate.

Between 1976 and 1987, Saudi Developmental Aid amounted to $49 billion, second only to the United States of America. The ODA/GNP ratio averaged 4.2% over this period, well above the highest amount provided by Development Assistance Committee countries (the DAC average is 0.35%).

In 2005, IMF Managing Director Rodrigo de Rato appreciated Saudi Arabia’s role in providing economic and financial support to regional nations and developing countries in general.

The Saudi Fund was set up by royal decree in October 1974, to stimulate economic growth in developing nations. In the next four years, it gave soft loans totaling $3.1 billion to 51 countries, many of them with the lowest per-capita income bracket in the world.

Almost 60% of approved loans earmarked for transport, power and water projects. By 1979, the fund accounted for about 30 percent of the kingdom’s foreign economic aid.

In 2019, Saudi Arabia, through the Saudi Fund for Development, has become the third largest donor to UNRWA, as it donated $800 million since 1994. Moreover, in 2019, the fund provided support to maintain Palestinian refugee camps in different countries.

Saudi Arabia pledged $1 billion in export guarantees and soft loans to Iraq. For Lebanon, it pledged a total of $1.59 billion in assistance and deposits to the Central Bank of Lebanon in 2006 and pledged an additional $1.1 billion in early 2007.

Of that aid, $500 million were intended for reconstruction. After the 2003 Bam earthquake, Saudi Arabia pledged more than $200,000 to the victims.

Saudi Arabia is one of the largest providers of aid to the Palestinian people, since 2002, Saudi Arabia has given more than $480 million in monetary support to the Palestinian Authority, and has supported Palestinian refugees by contributing to the (UNRWA).

Through the Arab League, it has provided more than $250 million for the Palestinians, and pledged $500 million in assistance over the next three years at the Donors Conference in December 2007.

After the 2004, Indian Ocean earthquake and the resulting massive Tsunamis, the Saudi government gave $30 million in aid to the victims, including a $5 million private donation by King Fahd Al-Saud. Saudis in total, including citizens, donated more than $80 million.

In the aftermath of the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, Saudi Arabia donated over US$3.3 million, more than any other country, and promised an additional $573 million, also the maximum amount of money pledged.

Saudi Arabia also provided 4000 pre-fabricated houses to Pakistan through the Saudi Public Assistance for Pakistan Earthquake Victims (SPAPEV). The houses, which were to be equipped with all required facilities, cost over $16.7 million.

The SPAPEV also distributed 230,000 blankets, 150,000 quilts, 10,000 ordinary tents, 2,500 special winterized waterproof tents, 100,000 stoves, 100,000 food.

The Saudi government pledged $230 million to development in Afghanistan. It has also pledged $133 million in direct grant aid, $187 million in concessional loans, and $153 million in export credits for Pakistan earthquake relief.

In the aftermath of the 2010 Pakistan floods, Saudi Arabia has donated more than US$361.99 million for the relief operation, topping the list of all donating countries.

Saudi Government donated $20 million on the first day whereas Saudi citizens donated more than $107 million were collected in the first three days. Saudi Arabia started the largest air relief bridge in the history and also donated two hospital consisting of 100 beds.

The Saudi Joint Committee for the Relief of Kosovo used $5 million to finance projects in rehabilitation, foodstuffs, relief materials, educational programs, sponsorship of orphans, health care programs and development.

Freights from Jeddah took 400,000 liters of milk as well as 900 cartons of clothing, 1,000 blankets, 25 water cisterns, medical supplies and surgical appliances such as wheelchairs to Pristina.

Saudi citizens donated $20 million to Kosovo in cash as well as food and medical supplies, and the Saudi Red Crescent sent medical volunteers.

In 2006, the Saudi government gave $10 million in aid to the horn of Africa, through the World Food Programme, of which Kenya received $2 million. Saudi prince Al-Walid bin Talal donated $1 million to help feed 3.5 million Kenyans during the drought.

King Salman Humanitarian and Relief Aid provided $37.6 billion aid to 130 countries.

Top recipients of Saudi Arabia’s aid are: $14 billion for Yemen, $2.5 billion for Syrian refugees, $2.08 billion for Egypt, $1 billion for Mauritania, and $975 million for Palestine.

Khaled Homoud Alshareef holds PhD in Business and he earned Masters in Philosophy. He often writes about Islamism, Islamist factions and modern Terrorism. He tweets under @0khalodi0.