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An all-female mobile health team is working against the odds to save lives in Afghanistan 

Despite countless hurdles, all-women teams of medical doctors are braving long distances and treacherous terrain to bring health care to the remotest villages in Afghanistan, reaching women who lack access to health services, some for up to 50 years.Dr. Najia Tareq, a gynecologist with years of experience in public health, felt anxious the day the Taliban entered Kabul a year ago. “The political transition was very difficult for us,” she says. “We were concerned about our futures and thinking, what will happen to us?” 

Dr. Najia’s family encouraged her to become a doctor from a young age. When she began her studies, she soon discovered the dire need for female specialists in Afghanistan. She remembers better times for women in her country, recalling her student days at Kabul Medical University. “It was a good environment for women and girls back then,” she says. “Everyone could study in Afghanistan or abroad.”After completing her training as a doctor, Dr. Najia was determined to make strides in her career. Before joining the IRC, she served as director of a maternity hospital, then worked for years in the Ministry of Public Health, traveling to remote provinces where there are often no roads or bridges and few hospitals. 

Her work with the ministry impressed upon her the plight of women and girls in rural Afghanistan, who are routinely denied access to the health care enjoyed by men in their villages. Many women and girls are not comfortable visiting male doctors. So Dr. Najia decided to form an all-female mobile health team, to ensure that women could visit qualified female medical specialists.“I was inspired to build a system where everyone has equal access to health care services,” she says. “This is what brought me to the IRC. They work in 10 provinces and have mobile health teams that could travel to hard-to-reach districts.” 

Amna Gul, a 25-year-old provincial health manager with the IRC, also knows first-hand the hardship of being a woman in Afghanistan and, like Dr. Najia, decided at a young age to become a doctor."My mother struggled to find the right health services as a young girl, or when she was pregnant,” she says. “So when I was growing up, she always encouraged me to become a doctor to support other women in need.” 

She recalls how she felt last year when the change in government became official. “I had called my office and asked them whether I should come in,” she says. “They told me not to come in until they called me. It was a blackout everywhere, and we felt like we could not move or survive. It really took away our enthusiasm and spirit to go outside and serve people in need.”Today, Amna’s spirit shines brighter than ever. An experienced leader of three mobile health teams, she was instrumental in founding the all-female mobile health team in Khost, a remote province in southeastern Afghanistan. “I had thought to myself, will it be possible to form this team? Then I thought — if we really want to do this, then it should be easy for us to do something.” 

Despite their critical work, these humanitarians — like many women in Afghanistan — must have a male chaperone accompany them nearly everywhere they go. This can prevent them from doing their work even in life-and-death emergencies, such as the earthquake that struck Afghanistan on June 22nd and killed 1,000 people.When the quake struck, the IRC responded by deploying mobile health units to affected villages. Amna’s mobile health team was one of these. 

“It was a dark, rainy day, and the road was rough,” she says, recalling the events of that morning. “Around 6 p.m., we lost communication with the team who had gone there.”It was a long and arduous wait throughout the night, but relief washed over her when the office finally contacted her in the morning and assured her they were safe. Despite the dangerous journey, they had managed to treat 116 patients through the night. 

Through all the risks they face while doing their work, Dr. Najia and Amna share a passion as humanitarians: to uplift the women around them, who often have no one to turn to.“I want to give women in Afghanistan all the human rights that are given to other women around the world—the right to study what they want, and most importantly, the right to their own freedom,” says Amna, speaking with her usual determination. 

Dr. Najia echoes her thoughts. No matter what obstacles are thrown her way, she never wavers. “I want to show my people—especially the men—that we have the capacity, knowledge and skill, just like them,” she says. “Women, too, can contribute to the development of Afghanistan.” 

What is the IRC doing to help? 

In the last fifteenmonths, the IRC has doubled-down on its commitments to the Afghan people. Our staff–99 percent of them Afghans themselves–are now operating across 12 provinces. They provide vital health services, education and support for women and girls in communities where we have developed deep relationships with community leaders. At the same time, our teams have tirelessly advocated for the inclusion of women in the humanitarian response and the IRC has maintained a staff body comprising 40% Afghan women. 

Thank you for your support! 

We are approaching the one-year mark of when the Taliban overtook Afghanistan, and since then the economic isolation of Afghanistan has pushed the Afghan economy to the brink, driving poverty, hunger and need.  

• 43% of Afghanistan’s population is living on less than one meal a day.  
• 97% of the population is expected to be living well below the poverty line by the second half of this year. 

The international community can and should do more to safeguard the lives of innocent Afghans, including a rapid scale up of the humanitarian response and finding ways to ensure access to livelihoods and basic services. 

The IRC is committed to improving the lives of the Afghan people. We began work in Afghanistan in 1988, launching relief programs for people displaced by the invasion of the Soviet Union. We now work with thousands of villages and communities across nine provinces, with Afghans making up more than 99% of IRC staff in the country. The IRC: 

• Provides uprooted families with cash assistance, tents, clean water, sanitation and other basic necessities 
• Supports over 100 health facilities, installs hand-washing stations in local communities, and provides information and training sessions about COVID-19. 
• Provides safe learning spaces in rural areas 
• Helps people find employment 
• Works with local communities to identify, plan and manage their own development projects 

How we lead in women’s protection and empowerment 

In recent years, the IRC has become one of the leaders in women’s protection and empowerment in the country.Women and girls in Afghanistan are now at higher risk of gender-based violence, child marriage, and exploitation and abuse as resources become scarce and needs go unmet. The collapse of the health system could unravel gains made in areas like maternal health. These risks will be magnified by any gender-specific restrictions—on women’s ability to work and ensure self-sufficiency or girls’ ability to receive an education. Any national or localized constraints on female aid workers would jeopardize the humanitarian response, as many women would be unwilling—or not allowed—to access services from male staff. 

With your help, we are improving access to health centers and giving more women and girls the care they desperately need, developing new projects that support adolescent girls to stay in school and realize their potential, supporting more women with economic empowerment and cash assistance in emergencies, finding new ways to involve and empower women and girls, and changing harmful gender norms to create more equal communities.  

How else does your gift help the IRC support Afghans? 

The IRC is also supporting the many Afghans who have been forced to flee their country. Learn more about our work assisting Afghans in Mexico, Uganda, Pakistan, and in the United States, where we have been resettling Afghan refugees for decades.Our services are client-centered, with a focus oneconomic wellbeing, empowerment, housing, health care, education, and safety. 

Thank you for your support!