Impossible to recognize Taliban unless it reverses decrees on women's rights: UN

By Betul Yuruk

UNITED NATIONS (AA) - The UN envoy for Afghanistan said Wednesday it is ''nearly impossible'' for the international community to recognize the Taliban unless the group’s bans on women's rights are lifted.

The UN continues to face a complicated situation in Afghanistan due to restrictions against women working for the organization, Roza Otunbayeva told the Security Council.

The Taliban banned Afghan women from working with NGOs last April.

''I am blunt about the obstacles they have created for themselves by the decrees and restrictions they have enacted, in particular against women and girls,'' she said. ''We have conveyed to them that as long as these decrees are in place it is nearly impossible that their government will be recognized by members of the international community.''

''We have been given no explanations by the de facto authorities for this ban and no assurances that it will be lifted,'' she said.

Otunbayeva said female national staff will not be replaced by males, as some authorities suggested.

She demanded the Taliban rescind the bans to enable the UN to continue its full support to the people of Afghanistan.

''The Taliban regime remains insular and autocratic. The composition of the de facto government is entirely male, and almost totally derived from the Taliban’s Pashtun and rural political base,'' she said.

She also said the UN Special Coordinator for Afghanistan, Feridun Sinirlioglu, is currently in Afghanistan.

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.

Taliban rulers have mounted a sustained attack on human rights despite their commitments to protect human and women's rights.

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

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