It was Saturday, 28 March 2020 when the Afghan government announced lockdown and self-quarantine in the capital city Kabul and other major cities to prevent the spread of coronavirus pandemic. This forced FAO team across the country to work from home.

In fact, working from home is not new in Afghanistan as people quite frequently experience it when insecurity threatens their lives in one way or the other and forces them to switch to alternative working modality. However, this lockdown was something new in itself since the staff knew that this could last longer than any other situation experienced earlier.

FAO Afghanistan immediately implemented its Business Continuity Plan (BCP), and decided to have most of the international and national staff telework from home during the lockdown situation. Currently, only the most critical staff go to the office on rotational basis and rest are teleworking. This new experience has also allowed the staff to spend some quality time with their family members while teleworking and maintaining their personal health and safety.

FAO Afghanistan staff share their experiences during the coronavirus pandemic explaining what teleworking means to them.

 “Work from home is joyful and even more productive”, says Moeen-Uddin Siraj, Senior Operations Officer. “The only challenge I however encounter is the unreliable Internet connection that forces me to work from 08:00 AM to 08:00 PM. At the same time, the limited Internet connection also allows me to play table tennis with my family members every now and then”, he added.

 “Teleworking is important for maintaining the business continuity and ensuring personal health and safety”, says Arzoo Noor, a program analyst. “When I first joined FAO three years back, on the very first week we were asked to work from home due to security concerns, and I was a bit surprised with the notion of working from home since it was a new term for me, which I had never experienced in the past. Later I realized how important it was to keep the business continue. I believe that teleworking is very helpful for me as I can work, attend virtual meetings and meet the deadlines. At the same time I can also take care of my family while staying safe at home”, she concluded.

“Teleworking under lockdown situation has been challenging, particularly if it is unpredictable and nobody knows how long it will last. In administration, we have to adjust ourselves to the situation ensuring efficient day-to-day administrative operations of the Representation. In general, we’ve been successful in transitioning between working from home and office as per the weekly plan of the reduced footprints”, says Amanullah Kabiri, Assistant FAOR (Administration). “In general, teleworking is good; we have flexible working hours and extended breakfast and lunchtime. We also have enough time to have more interaction with the family. I discuss with FAOR every single issue on WhatsApp thanks to his flexibility and availability, and so far we are managing the situation well though things have slowed down”, he added.

“I have been working in Afghanistan since last six years and I have observed lockdowns quiet often, especially during elections and security threats. It is thus not very new to me. However, this time the situation is bit different as this is due to the pandemic”, says Hima Uprety, CTA for Global Environment Facility (GEF) project. “For us, the only concern is that in-country medical facilities are limited and the airport is also closed down, and it would be very difficult to be evacuated in case of medical or any other emergency”, she further added.

“The current stressful situation due to COVID-19 has restricted everything, everywhere, but we try to not stop our activities”, says Zahra Stanikzai, a member of the resilience unit. “We do our best to deliver assistance to the people in need. Teleworking taught me to work for humanity in every tough situation, continue helping people, helping the community and helping the globe in dire situations”, she added.

“As an international staff based in Afghanistan, lockdown is sort of normality as we live in a maximum security compound without being able to walk in the street, go shopping, movies, restaurant or for a walk in the park. It is just not possible due to the security circumstances. In this sense the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t changed much our daily lives”, says Fabrizio Cesaretti, Resilience and Rehabilitation Officer.

Teleworking has proved to be good alternative working modality in difficult situations though it also has some challenges that are not deniable. For example, communication is difficult during teleworking. Specifically in Afghanistan where beside all other challenges due to teleworking, people have to deal with unreliable Internet connection and inconsistent electricity.

“Most of the time work cannot be done as quickly as it is done in the office”, says Mariam Danish, a member of the Food Security and Agriculture Cluster (FSAC). “The biggest challenge is that electricity is not consistent and the Internet connection is poor at home that make my teleworking hard most of the time”, she added.

“Lockdown has caused some major delays in our daily activities as we are not able to physically visit the projects areas and the beneficiaries”, says Sayed Asil Sadiqi, Communications Officer in Herat.

The situation under lockdown is different for women in Afghanistan. Majority of families expectation that if a woman is at home, she should also do the house works even if she is remotely working for the office too. This has increased the workload of the female staff while teleworking unfortunately.

“I believe that work from home is challenging in Afghanistan”, says Nabila Barmaki, another staff member explains. “I have the habit of working till late evenings even in normal situation, but still I find teleworking not easy under this lockdown. I live in a family of seven in a four-bedroom apartment, and though my family tries to keep the environment peaceful to enable me to focus on work, still, I cannot really focus the way I normally do when I am in the office”, said Nabila. “Fortunately, my family is very supportive; however they still expect that when I am at home, I should do the housework as well. Whenever I need to contribute to the housework, I have to extend my office working hours in the evenings to finish the work meeting the deadline”, she added.

“Despite challenging working environment and stringent security situation, FAO Afghanistan team is fully committed to continuing business through teleworking. We are facing very complex and multi-dimensional issue, and I am working closely with FAO senior management for getting necessary support so that the team can stay and deliver”, said Rajendra Aryal, FAO Representative in Afghanistan. “This is a global crisis, and this is the time when our patience, commitment and resilience are being tested”, he added further.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has severely affected the psychological health of people in Afghanistan.

Ahmad Aryan is a regional resilience officer in Kandahar. He sees the lockdown as very challenging. He believes that the challenge is emotional rather than physical. He feels that getting locked down is like being in a prison. He always wonders when the virus will go away. His biggest question now is - is this lockdown situation going to end soon or not? For him, it’s more like being in a paranoia situation.

Coronavirus adds to the problems from conflict

The coronavirus hit Afghanistan in late February with ever-increasing speed over March and April.

Controlling the epidemic in Afghanistan is challenging due to a diverse set of issues, such as fragile health system, lack of public awareness, insecurity, and return of a large number of Afghans from Iran and Pakistan. Closure of borders and disruption of supply chain is influencing food prices, and the current lockdown is largely affecting the livelihoods of the vulnerable population.