Washington, D.C., December 22, 2021 — In response to the U.S. Treasury Department issuing General Licenses 17, 18 and 19, and accompanying guidance, to facilitate humanitarian and other civil society operations in Afghanistan, Kay Guinane, founder and Senior Advisor at the Charity & Security Network, released the following statement:

“Treasury’s actions today are a step in the right direction for an administration that campaigned on the promise of a foreign policy centered around human rights. The new general licenses and guidance represent important progress in protecting the lifesaving work of civil society groups in Afghanistan, and in the U.S. approach to enabling civil society operations in sanctioned contexts more broadly. Civil society has been speaking up, and clearly the Treasury Department is listening.

“Under the previous licenses, a significant range of critical activities were left unprotected from sanctions, and many organizations were forced to keep their work on hold as a result. The new general licenses go farther than their predecessors by protecting a broader range of activities, including education, human rights, and development, that are also crucial to supporting the Afghan people.

“Unfortunately, even this welcome improvement to licensing is insufficient to mount an effective response to the crisis in Afghanistan. While these general licenses offer clarity for certain activities, it remains unclear whether essential activities such as peacebuilding, conflict mitigation and atrocity prevention are protected. Rather than taking a piecemeal approach that protects certain activities one license at a time, Treasury should issue a Global General License that encompasses all legitimate civil society operations in all locations. Treasury should also continue to build on its engagement with civil society to address its concerns and incorporate its input into sanctions policy.

“Ultimately no amount of licensing can resolve this crisis. Wherever sanctions exist, banks have been hesitant to provide financial services to nonprofits, even when those transactions are perfectly legal. Taking more proactive steps to reassure banks is one step Treasury can take to address this issue.”

Background:

Afghanistan is in the midst of dire economic and humanitarian crises, with nearly 23 million people facing potentially life-threatening food insecurity this winter as a result. In recent weeks and days, public pressure has been growing on the Biden administration to ease sanctions and unfreeze Afghanistan’s frozen funds. Civil society groups have also been urging Treasury officials publicly and behind the scenes to take a broader approach to licensing in Afghanistan.

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The Charity & Security Network is a resource and advocacy center working to promote and protect the ability of nonprofit organizations to carry out peacebuilding, humanitarian, and human rights missions and to advance national security frameworks that support rather than impede this work. Learn more about the Charity & Security Network’s work at www.CharityAndSecurity.org, and follow us on Twitter: @CharitySecurity.