UN condemns latest ban on women workers in Afghanistan

By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD (AA) - The United Nations strongly condemned the latest ban on working of female staff in eastern Afghanistan and warned the Taliban that the UN cannot operate without its female staff.

Late Tuesday, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said that their female staff have been blocked from reporting to work in Nangarhar province.

"We remind de facto authorities that United Nations entities cannot operate and deliver life-saving assistance without female staff," UNAMA tweeted.

Later, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned the latest move against the female staff of the UN and said it will impact the ability of the UN to help people in Afghanistan.

“I strongly condemn the prohibition of our Afghan female colleagues from working in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province. If this measure is not reversed, it will inevitably undermine our ability to deliver life-saving aid to the people who need it,” the UN chief wrote on Twitter.

So far, the Taliban administration has not shared any detail about the local authorities’ action in Nangarhar province, bordering Pakistan.

However, the latest development came just less than three months after three leading international aid agencies, including CARE, Save the Children, and International Rescue Committee (IRC), announced in January to partially resume their activities in Afghanistan after the Taliban administration’s assurance to allow female workers to carry out their work.

These agencies suspended their operations in December last year after the Taliban banned women from working in local and international aid organizations.

The Taliban's return to power, followed by the disruption of international financial assistance, has left the war-torn country in economic, humanitarian and human rights crises.

Women and girls have been deprived of their rights, including the right to education, and they have disappeared from public life.

Thousands of women have since lost their jobs or were forced to resign from government institutions and the private sector.

Girls have been prevented from attending middle and high schools. Many women have demanded that their rights be reinstated by taking to the streets, protesting and organizing campaigns.