Women and girls bear brunt of wealthy countries' humanitarian aid cuts: CARE Nederland

Women and girls are hit the hardest by global cuts to humanitarian projects and development aid, aid organization CARE said in a report on Tuesday. “When aid programs are cut, women and girls are the first to lose access to healthcare, income, protection, and education,” CARE Nederland director Inge Kauer told NU.nl.

Currently, this is especially true for women and girls in places like the Gaza Strip, Afghanistan, Sudan, and Myanmar. Kauer just returned from Afghanistan, where she visited several aid projects that will soon run out of funding, including a clinic treating severely malnourished children and a women-organized project trying to organize education for girls in remote areas.

Kauer saw a 7-month-old girl weighing only 3 kilograms at the clinic. “The child has been able to recover well over the past few days. That shows that such a clinic works,” she said. At the other project, she met a 9-year-old girl who had just started reading. “She was so enthusiastic about it that she dreamed of becoming a doctor or a teacher.”

“It is very worrying that you have good opportunities to help, but these are at risk of stalling because funding is stopping,” the CARE Nederland director told the newspaper. This not only affects the children of today, but also the next generation and the country’s future prospects. “Afghanistan is missing out on the teachers of the future. The population remains disadvantaged, and fewer economic opportunities can be seized.”

The situation is similar in other countries. In Yemen, for example, where millions of women and girls need protection, ten shelters for women have had to close their doors due to cuts in humanitarian aid.

There are always women who persevere. “Women, who despite the difficult circumstances continue to dedicate themselves to other women,” Kauer said. “Despite the repressive measures, midwives are still traveling to the countryside. And there are still women who work in care institutions, even if they increasingly have to take a male escort with them.”

But women cannot keep this up indefinitely, Kauer said. More funding will help, but more security is even more important. That means multi-year funding, particularly for women-led organizations.