UNICEF to Direct Funds to Afghan Teachers Outside Taliban Government

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said it was planning to create a system to directly fund Afghan teachers after the international community froze funds for the Taliban-led administration.

“UNICEF is creating a system that will allow direct payments to teachers without the funds going through the de facto authorities,” Jeannette Vogelaar, UNICEF’s head of education in Afghanistan, told Reuters in an email.

Earlier, she said that UNICEF would begin to register all public school teachers.

“The best way to support the education of girls in Afghanistan is to continue supporting their schools and teachers. UNICEF is asking donors not to let the children of Afghanistan down,” added Vogelaar.

Afghanistan’s public services, particularly health and education, have been mired in crisis since the Islamic Taliban movement took over the country on 15 August.

Many foreign governments have banned funding outside of humanitarian aid, which is channeled through multilateral agencies.

This has generally been limited to urgent supplies such as wheat and blankets, leaving civil servants, including teachers, unpaid for months. Billions of dollars in Afghan central bank funds held abroad were also frozen.

The international community has warned that the Taliban may restrict female education, and girls’ secondary schools in many parts of the country have remained closed even while boys’ schools have been allowed to open.

A Taliban official told Reuters this week that there would soon be “good news” that older girls would be allowed to go back to school, and that they were working with UNICEF and other international organizations on the issue.

“We are working especially with UNICEF and some other international organizations to reach a good solution. We have daily meetings,” said Waheedullah Hashimi, director of External Programs and Aid at Afghanistan’s Ministry of Education.

“We have a problem that, economically, we are not doing well… that is why we are asking the international community, international organizations, especially those that have funds for emergency situations, to help us in this regard,” he added.