UN humanitarian chief to visit Afghanistan following Taliban's ban on women aid workers

By Betul Yuruk

UNITED NATIONS (AA) - UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths will visit Afghanistan in the coming weeks after the Taliban barred women from working as aid workers, said a UN official.

"We will seek to meet the highest possible authorities," UN Deputy Special Representative, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan Ramiz Alakbarov told reporters at the UN headquarters on Thursday.

The UN said on Wednesday that some time-critical programs have had to stop temporarily due to lack of female staff following the Taliban's latest ban.

"This comes at a time when more than 28 million people in Afghanistan, including millions of women and children, require assistance to survive as the country grapples with the risk of famine conditions, economic decline, entrenched poverty and a brutal winter," said the head of UN agencies and a number of aid organizations.

Alakbarov said that launching new programs will be practically impossible for the UN in this environment.

"As we approach a conservative society, religious society, you obviously need women to speak to the women to understand what their particular needs are, be it related to nutrition, be it related to health services, water and sanitation or hygiene," he said.

He called for the international community to engage with the Taliban through dialogue rather than pressure to reverse bans on women's rights.

The Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan on Aug. 15, 2021, followed by the disruption of international financial assistance has left the worn-torn country in economic, humanitarian and human rights crises.

The US and other Western nations suspended financial assistance to Afghanistan after seizure of power by the Taliban.

The Biden administration froze Afghan central bank foreign reserves worth $7 billion as part of its sanctions on the Taliban.

UN human rights experts have called for the US to end its freeze on Afghanistan’s foreign assets.

Women and girls have also been deprived of their rights, including the right to education, and disappeared from the public under the Taliban, Afghanistan's de facto authorities.

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.