The UN mission in Afghanistan will meet with Taliban officials in Kabul on Wednesday. To “seek clarity” on a new government ban that prohibits women from working for the world organisation throughout the country.
Since seizing power in August 2021, Taliban authorities have placed a slew of restrictions on Afghan women. Including prohibiting them from pursuing higher education and holding many government positions.
The tightening restrictions are reminiscent of the Taliban’s first government. Which was responsible for repeated human rights violations. Especially against girls and women, between 1996 and 2001, according to the UN.
The United Nations said on Tuesday that the Taliban administration had extended a ban on women. From working for non-governmental organisations to the world organisation.
“UNAMA received word of an order by the de facto authorities that bans female national staff members of the United Nations from working,” said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the secretary-general. Adding that the UN had heard “from various conduits that this applies to the entire country.”
The UN had previously been exempt from a December order requiring all foreign and domestic NGOs. To cease operating in the crisis-stricken country.
Dujarric stated that no written command had yet been received. But that the UN would meet with the Taliban in Kabul on Wednesday to “seek some clarity.”
UN needs Female Staffs
“Any such ban would be unacceptable and frankly, inconceivable,” Dujarric said of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
“This is the latest in a disturbing trend undermining aid organisations’ ability to reach those in greatest need,” he added.
“Female staff members are critical for the UN to deliver lifesaving assistance,” he said. Adding that the UN is trying to reach 23 million Afghans with humanitarian aid.
According to UN figures, the UN employs approximately 400 Afghan women. Accounting for the majority of the approximately 600 female staff members operating in Afghanistan. The 3,900-strong UN staff in Afghanistan includes approximately 3,300 Afghans.
Authorities have barred adolescent girls from attending secondary school. Pushed women out of many government jobs, and prohibited them from traveling without a male relative. And ordered them to cover up outside the house, preferably with a burqa.
Women are also barred from entering colleges and are not permitted to visit parks or gardens.
In a recent speech in Geneva, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Afghanistan Richard Bennett stated that the Taliban authorities’ strategy “may amount to the crime of gender persecution.”
