Afghanistan: Humanitarian Access Snapshot (September 2024)

In September 2024, humanitarian partners reported 173[1] incidents that impeded humanitarian operations, resulting in the temporary suspension of 83 Projects; two facilities were temporarily closed, and one project was relocated to another location. These incidents were mostly (98 percent) authored by the de Facto Authorities (DfAs). Of the incidents reported in September, the Southern, Eastern, and Western Regions were the most affected by the access challenges, respectively. The incidents in September showed 31 percent increase compared to the previous month and a 66 percent rise compared to the same period last year.

The most common incident categories were 'Interference in humanitarian activities, 'violence against humanitarian personnel, assets and facilities’, and ‘Restriction of movement of agencies, personnel, or goods within the country.’

In September, 88 percent of the reported access incidents stemmed from the DfA interfering with the implementation of humanitarian activities. This included 73 incidents directly affecting program implementation, 35 incidents of interference with staff recruitment, 19 incidents requesting sensitive staff information, five incidents impacting procurement procedures, five incidents restricting Women Humanitarian workers' participation, three incidents of dress code, two incidents attempting to interfere with beneficiary selection, two incidents involving requests for illegal taxation, two cases of aid confiscation, one case of delays in signing memorandums of understanding (MoUs), one case of occupation of facilities, and one case of preventing use of services/assistance for women beneficiaries. Notably, September has seen the highest incidents of interference in staff recruitment in 2024 (35 incidents), which was recorded in 13 provinces and temporarily halted 24 projects.

In September, **the DfA issued a total of 13 directives that have significantly impacted the humanitarian response in Afghanistan**. The majority of these directives were aimed at reinforcing existing procedures. The issuing authorities primarily included the Directorate of Economy (six directives), followed by the Directorate of Public Health (five directives), Provincial Governor (one directive), and the Department of Police (one directive).

Since the publication of Morality Law on 21 August 2024, 47 incidents of interference by the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (PVPV) in humanitarian activities were reported. The highest number of incidents were recorded in the Southern (13) region, followed by the Northern (9) and southeastern (9). These incidents include monitoring visits to offices/facilities checking adherence to the PVPV law, detention of staff members, social and behavior codes, separation of workspace, male and female staff stopped at checkpoints, and mahram, requesting sensitive information, dress code requirements and threats to female staff members.

The humanitarian response in September was also impacted by violence against humanitarian personnel, assets, and facilities, which resulted in the arrests and detention of 9 staff and the forced closure of 3 facilities. These incidents persistently disrupt the operational environment, where the safety and security of humanitarian personnel are at risk.

Furthermore, movement restrictions within the country have posed an access constraint to the humanitarian response delivery, with seven incidents reported in September, including incidents at the checkpoints (5 incidents) and restrictions on women humanitarian workers' participation in the humanitarian action (1 incident), and dress code (1 incident).