This quarterly report submitted by the Lead Inspector General (Lead IG) report to Congress on Operation Enduring Sentinel (OES). This report discharges our quarterly reporting responsibilities pursuant to Section 419 of the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended. In October 2021, the Department of Defense (DoD) initiated OES as the U.S. mission to conduct over-the-horizon counterterrorism operations against threats emanating from Afghanistan and to engage with Central Asian and South Asian regional partners to combat terrorism and promote regional stability.
USAID Afghanistan supported 26 active awards during the quarter totaling $1.3 billion. At the end of the quarter, $74 million remained unobligated. USAID reported that the ban on women aid workers will have catastrophic effects on tens of millions of Afghans in need of humanitarian assistance, especially women and children. A December ban on women studying in allied health fields will certainly have an impact on the health system, USAID said, though it will likely not be fully felt for a few years as female health workers retire or leave work for other reasons and cannot be replaced due to the lack of qualified candidates.
Taliban authorities continued to interfere with targeted basic needs assistance. USAID reported a noticeable increase in harassment and detentions targeting individuals in sectors such as rights advocacy, media, and psychosocial support. USAID staff were unable to conduct traditional site monitoring visits in Afghanistan and instead relied on third-party monitoring as a method of on-site monitoring. During the quarter, USAID Afghanistan’s third-party monitoring mechanism supported nine awards.
The U.S. Government remains the largest humanitarian donor to the Afghanistan Response, providing more than $697 million in humanitarian assistance in FY 2024. USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) had a total of 17 active awards during the quarter (total award amount ceiling of $771 million). State reported it did not obligate any funding for humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan during the quarter. USAID BHA reported that it distributed nearly 11,300 metric tons of emergency food commodities through the World Food Programme to approximately 1 million people across Afghanistan in November. USAID-funded international NGO implementers are providing seeds and livestock feed in areas at risk of food insecurity to bolster the agricultural capacity of vulnerable households, along with food assistance to meet immediate needs. USAID-funded UNICEF assisted approximately 54,900 people with access to safe drinking water across 13 provinces through the construction of more than 20 solar-powered water supply systems and rehabilitated 4 flood-damaged water supply systems during the quarter. Overall, heightened access constraints, insecurity, and interference continued to complicate the humanitarian operating environment and compromised the safety and security of humanitarian personnel across Afghanistan, according to USAID.
Also see the Report in Brief.