Guterres calls on Taliban to 'repeal' ban on women working at UN

These women “are essential” to UN humanitarian operations, so the “application of this decision will affect the Afghan population”, which, to a large extent, depends on this assistance”, added Stéphane Dujarric.

The UN announced, on Tuesday (4), that the Taliban government banned women from working for the organization across the country. According to the UN humanitarian aid coordinator in Afghanistan, Ramiz Alakbarov, the ban goes “against the Charter of the United Nations” and “violates” women's rights.

Taliban bans Afghan women from working for the UN

The Taliban issued an “order” prohibiting Afghan women employed at the UN, until now exempt from these restrictions, from working in any part of Afghanistan, the spokesperson for the international organization announced this Tuesday (4), denouncing a decision “unacceptable and frankly inconceivable”.

According to the UN, of the 3.900 people working for the United Nations in Afghanistan, approximately 600 are women, 400 of whom are Afghans. According to the organization, approximately 23 million people depend on humanitarian aid in the country, which is experiencing one of the worst humanitarian crises on the planet.

“In the history of the United Nations, no other regime has attempted to prohibit women from working for the organization simply because they are women”, declared, in turn, the head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (Manua), Rosa Otounbaïeva .

Since returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban have imposed a strict interpretation of Islam, as they had already done before being expelled from command of the country two decades ago. Therefore, they multiplied measures to restrict the rights of women, who were banned from attending colleges and universities.

They have also been excluded from many public jobs or receive very low wages. They cannot travel without the company of a male family member and must fully cover their bodies when in public spaces.

The measure that affected the UN had already been taken against NGOs on December 24, 2022.

(To AFP)

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NGOs suspend activities in Afghanistan after ban on employing women

Foreign NGOs announced, this Sunday (25), the suspension of their activities in Afghanistan, after the Taliban regime banned women from working in these organizations, a measure that will make it difficult to maintain humanitarian aid to the country, according to a high-ranking official from the Organization of United Nations (UN).

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