AIBU to ask how to help women and girls in Afghanistan

[Aplone]

... Following the takeover of the Taliban? Are there any practical steps which we in the UK can take to help women and girls who will now undoubtedly lose rights and freedoms under this new regime. I feel so helpless watching these events unfolding, and really want to be able to do something. Are there any reputable organisations* to donate to? Any other actions we can take (petitions etc. although please no links as they are not allowed!!)? Thank you very much.

*not Oxfam! After the way they behaved in Haiti I don't trust them one iota!

(Inb4 - "what about the menz?" I want to help women and girls and "what about our homeless veterans?" I want to help our homeless veterans too, infact it is an issue very close to my heart but I have some idea of what charities etc. offer support and you can support more than one cause!)

Similar to Iraq and the post-Ottoman Near East, @onlychildhamster? I've been reading a lot about it lately, and stuff like Sykes-Picot. Fascinating and infuriating.

The US President Woodrow Wilson post-WW1 was an ardent proponent of European decolonisation of the Middle East. It was a painful process, fraught with human and political casualties. Now the Americans and the current US President are finding that out for themselves.

Women in Afghanistan are now beyond Western help.

That's my fear, RedToothBrush. It needs saying over and over.

I hope we can help the many, many existing refugees. But all aid will be under Taliban control, won't it, realistically?

This is horrific.

Yep, any Aid within Afghanistan will be under Taliban control and we all know how that will go with women and children. Unfortunately it looks like the end of the road.

Which if your correct, is rather worrying because thats now a Taliban airforce, command/supply structure.

Yep, and I’m guessing that’s why world leaders have decided not to put that point forward now that Kabul is within their control and pretty much the entire country will be officially soon (unofficially now really). More than a bit if a worry really.

Women in Afghanistan are now beyond Western help
Same as North Korea where there are also horrific human rights abuses. No way in, no way out, no access for aid organisations. It’s awful but it’s out of our control.

It’s not women specific but War child works with children in Afghanistan and other conflict zones

Ok That isn't what many experts/politicians have said but thanks for info.Which if your correct, is rather worrying because thats now a Taliban airforce, command/supply structure

I don’t know who is saying otherwise, but they one hundred percent have a very strong capable airforce. Make no mistake the Afghans have been provided the resources and the training and are fully militarised and capable . And yes it is now Taliban run. The country is now run by the Taliban and governments are recognising them as such.

Why the military have not provided much resistance is as yet unknown. I’m sure there will be much analysis, But they have full capability. The west did not pull out and leave them incapable or under resourced.

The agreed deadline was approaching, they knew the Taliban was going to strike, the decision was do we send western staff in to fight them, thousands upon thousands, or let the fully capable afghan military do it. They decided to let their own military do it.

To be honest I understand that decision. We have spent over a trillion bucks , many many people have trained them, they capability fully exists. At some point they need to do it for themselves

My friends son is jist back from a tour of Afghan. He was on standby to go back if we were going to fight a war there. Is it right he should risk his life, when their own military , the husbands and fathers of these women will not?

As horrific as it is, it’s now down to the peoole and civil war will likely ensue. A bloody and horrific war too. Is horrific but I cannot see the west is fully at fault. We taught the man to fish and gave him a rod. The fact he chose to starve is in his own hands

Thanks for starting this thread OP, I have been googling reputable charities this morning but seeing so much contradictory info. Its going to take allot of research to know who to actually financially support.
I am also keen to show support on online petitions (do they make a difference, I'm partly sceptical and partly feeling abit desperate to support in any feeble way I can).

The whole situation is do disturbing, I keep seeing images of toddlers in the media and those in particular are so sad. I'm so angry these kind of things can happen and the common person can mainly do sweet f all to help- well, that's how I feel at the minute?

Also, as someone who has literally never written to an MP before, I have found my local MP's email address and details online and will email them asking for support to be given the the people of Afghanistan to avert a full blown humanitarian crisis. The UK government must owes the Afghani civilians/troops help and protection from the Taliban.
We should be looking to re-employ our troops to form some kind of coalition.

If anyone has any links or other suggestions for charities?

So many of the aid agencies will be under the control of the Taliban. That’s horrific.

Was there not a better way than this?

I have seen several social media accounts/charities asking for money online, with it being promised that the people in Afghanistan handling those donations received are reputable. I'm sure most are but honestly, there is too high a risk now that any money that is sent will end up in the wrong hands. It's utterly tragic but there is virtually nothing that we can do. Thousands are going to be hurt and killed and I think if you want to donate money it would be better to wait and send it to a charity that works with refugees outside of the country.

@Fleek

I have seen several social media accounts/charities asking for money online, with it being promised that the people in Afghanistan handling those donations received are reputable. I'm sure most are but honestly, there is too high a risk now that any money that is sent will end up in the wrong hands. It's utterly tragic but there is virtually nothing that we can do. Thousands are going to be hurt and killed and I think if you want to donate money it would be better to wait and send it to a charity that works with refugees outside of the country.

One of the issues with the American Army presence full stop was corruption and low ranks of Afghan people not getting paid by the Afghan government.

The idea that any Western organisation can guarantee that money is going to get to ground level where they say it will. Its particularly laughable from certain charities who use the money to run their organisations and fund their industry rather it being spent on the basic needs of those in dire straits.

Anyone saying they can get money to these people should be looked at with real suspicion.

Realistically we are looking at helping refugees and asylum seekers already outside Afghanistan as the only realistic avenues we can help.

In that sense unicef probably isn't a bad call simply because they are responsible for management of refugee camps (and even then there are institutional problems but its probably your best bet in terms of getting money to food, clothing and housing in practical terms to users).

There’s not much anyone can do if their own fully trained fully equipped military didn’t want to defend themselves.

We can go back again and pay for peace for another 20 years and pull out leaving them equip again and the same is highly likely to happen over and over with huge loss of like to the soldiers over their from the USA and U.K.

I agree with that sadly. This isn’t about poverty or chucking money at it. The Afghans are fully resourced and trained to protect themselves. They have not. It is not they need money to do so, it is not about poverty, it’s a much deeper issue here,

The simple fact is the Afghan military on the whole has not done their job, there’s no info coming out as to why but it’s certainly not they couldn’t have if they wished,

It’s not women specific but War child works with children in Afghanistan and other conflict zones

But will they moving forward? I think the piece many are missing is that all aid workers are currently being evacuated while they can get people out on military transports. If they stay they will soon be killed. So War Child may not be there going forward just like the rest? I think it’s hard to comprehend aid agencies just wanted not exist there moving forward as the Taliban won’t allow it. It’s a heartbreaking situation.

But is that actually true that the Afghan military won't defend themselves? it sounds like soldiers are mostly starving there and haven't been paid for months. If they don't have enough food, weapons or other basic amenities to do the job they can't defend themselves or their country.

Thanks for suggesting Unicef @RedToothBrush, I will look into them today.

Its so horrific. Eiugh.

The simple fact is the Afghan military on the whole has not done their job, there’s no info coming out as to why but it’s certainly not they couldn’t have if they wished

I’m sure there is a simple and obvious answer to this but I can’t see it. Their military has essentially surrendered to Taliban rule. This means there is a lot of military equipment that will very soon be under Taliban control and I can’t imagine that’s a good thing for neighbouring countries or any of us to be frank. I can understand leaving their military with it if the point was for them to actively defend themselves but that’s not the case now, so I can’t imagine why anything that you wouldn’t want the Taliban to have is not being destroyed on exit due to the bigger picture/danger?

@HoppingPavlova

The simple fact is the Afghan military on the whole has not done their job, there’s no info coming out as to why but it’s certainly not they couldn’t have if they wished

I’m sure there is a simple and obvious answer to this but I can’t see it. Their military has essentially surrendered to Taliban rule. This means there is a lot of military equipment that will very soon be under Taliban control and I can’t imagine that’s a good thing for neighbouring countries or any of us to be frank. I can understand leaving their military with it if the point was for them to actively defend themselves but that’s not the case now, so I can’t imagine why anything that you wouldn’t want the Taliban to have is not being destroyed on exit due to the bigger picture/danger?

I think th issue is the world expected the Afghan military to do their job. No one was going to destroy their equipment on exit and leave them helpless. We have spent twenty years and a trillion dollars training and arming them, The fact the military immediately walked away was totally and utterly unexpected.

Now the focus is on getting the targets out.

Thanks Bluntness, I completely understand that was never the plan but the issue is that it has now not gone to plan, it’s as far from it as possible. The thought of the military now just handing it over to the Taliban and everyone happy for this to occur seems counterintuitive.

It does yes. But I think it’s deeper though, the men who were trained, which I think is up to three hundred thousand may now join with them. So it’s not just the equipment, it’s the people as well.

From what I can understand there is approx 300k military people and 80 k Taliban troops. The milarity being clearly the better equipped and trained. And yet here we are. The military have not stood in their way, so potentially the 300k will also now serve the Taliban.

@Bluntness100

Honestly I can see both sides.

What’s happening is shocking, and the barbarity is chilling, but the reality is it’s been twenty years and over a trillion dollars and many western lives lost.

And the Afghan military after being trained and weaponised for two decades were totally unwilling to stand up to the Taliban, they have the capability, they have the weapons, they simply didn’t in the most part.There has been little to no resistance from the afghans.

It is likely there will be full blown civil war. On one side I can see why the west should stay in and protect them, on the other I can also see why it is up to the afghans to take control of their own country and not wish the west to do it for them.

Biden said it made no difference if it was another year or five years, if they weren’t going to do it, then timing made no difference.

Really now it’s up to the Afghan people. They have the military. They have the weapons. They can fight the Taliban just like the west can. If they choose not to, then the country will be run by the Taliban, and all that entails.

It will likely be civil war, and it’s going to be brutal, so I think more shocking scenes to come sadly.😞

I didnt think it was a civil war?

Sorry I said “likely” which means civil war may break out. Right now no it’s not, the word likely is in terms of what’s coming next. The probability.

The Afghans are fully resourced and trained to protect themselves. They have not. It is not they need money to do so, it is not about poverty, it’s a much deeper issue here,

Its about tribalism.

Even if armed if the local area is tribal and you defy the local leader you die.

Simply because of numbers.

With the US and UK in Afghanistan the Afghan army had the numbers to back it up on the ground.

This is the problem. We never solved the political under currents. We dominated on a numbers game but didn't solve the long term infrastructure and institutional issues.

The west knew this. Biden should have known this. If he didn't he was very poorly advised.

Biden even saying the US didn't go in to protect women's rights is a fundamental betrayal when women were encouraged to step out, be educated and pursue careers by the west. It is a lie. They lied to women for their own political agendas.

Then these men should never have stepped up to be trained and fight the Taliban. I’m sorry but it can’t be both ways, there was no conscription.

@Bluntness100

Then these men should never have stepped up to be trained and fight the Taliban. I’m sorry but it can’t be both ways, there was no conscription.

It was a job.

When there wasn't other jobs.

That doesn't win hearts and minds.

And a job that allowed many side line benefits in corruption for extremely dirt poor people

Bluntness many good documentaries circling, the one is very good this is what wining looks like on u tube.

At one point an old man begs local villagers to take up arms and help, he said if you don't want to join the army fine just learn how to defend yourselves... And he said... The emotion, cost, in put it takes to raise a child to be lost due to one bullet.. Defend yourselves.

They were not interested, stoned... Other basic stuff to do..