Children sit at the doorstep of a house along the street in Kabul on 28 December, 2022. Photo: AFP
Aid agencies warn Afghans will die unless the Taliban reverses a ban on women working for non-government organisations in the country, where an estimated six million people are on the brink of famine.
Save the Children, World Vision International, CARE International and the Norwegian Refugee Council have suspended their operations in Afghanistan following the 24 December announcement, saying they cannot provide life-saving help without female staff.
The United Nations security council has condemned the latest blow to women's rights, noting the restrictions contradicted commitments made by the Taliban to the Afghan people as well as the expectations of the international community.
The Taliban had already excluded women from universities and girls from secondary schools, along with public gardens, baths and gyms.
Save the Children chief executive Inger Ashing said about 28 million people, including 14 million children, needed humanitarian aid in Afghanistan.
"If we are not able to start programming again, children will die, hundreds of thousands of people will die, that's how serious the situation is," she said.
"If we are not able to restart our operations and really be there for the Aghani people as winter is kicking in, we will lose them, they will die."
The aid agencies said Afghanistan was facing its worst food crisis on record, with six million people on the brink of famine.
CARE International secretary-general Sofia Sprechmann Sinerio said the survival of Afghans depended on the Taliban reversing the ban.
"This is about life and death. This is about the survival of women, of girls, of men and boys as well," she said.
"It's absolutely essential that this edict is reversed because otherwise we will just see horror, devastation, death."
The aid agencies hoped talks would convince the Taliban to relax its ban on women working for NGOs.
Massey University security studies senior lecturer Dr Negar Partow said it was a desperate situation but the international community still had the power to negotiate with the Taliban.
She said authorities were concerned about issues of political legitimacy, so the impact of hunger and poverty could influence the Taliban's response.
"I think there should be a possibility of bringing the Taliban back to negotiations and find a solution at least for hunger and poverty," she said.
"In that case I think the Taliban is desperate enough to understand that for that they have to give up some kind of ideological position."
Partow said New Zealand should use its strong voice on human rights to press for change.
"I think we can raise quite a lot of awareness about the situation in Afghanistan and work with NGOs," she said.
"We can't just have a sovereign state killing and excluding its members from all parts of society like that in 2022, it's just part of being a global citizen."