The UN has informed that the Taliban regime has banned women from working in the organization, and the instruction was given verbally, without providing any written explanations, writes the BBC.
The organization has allowed its Afghan employees – both men and women – to stay away from work for two days while meeting with Taliban representatives to clarify what is happening.
Since the Taliban regime came to power in 2021, there has been an increasingly strong restriction on women’s rights and freedom in Afghanistan. The UN has called the latest ban unacceptable and completely incomprehensible. A representative of the organization said that
the UN cannot function and save lives if women are not allowed to be present.
Women play an indispensable role in field relief operations, especially in identifying other women in need. The UN is providing humanitarian aid to 23 million people in Afghanistan, which is struggling with a severe economic crisis.
The ban will not apply to foreign women. However, if it goes into effect, it will be a significant challenge to the UN’s operations in Afghanistan and a test of the organization’s relationship with the Taliban regime.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres wrote on Twitter that he strongly condemned the latest ban.
The Taliban’s decision means that the UN is now also subject to the blanket ban on women working in non-governmental organizations adopted in December. The only exception is the health sector. Women are still allowed to work in the health sector, but only if they are reporting directly to the treatment site and not to the administration of the organizations.
Since the return of the Taliban to power, women have been denied access to educational institutions. Clothing must fully cover the whole body. In November, women were banned from parks, gyms, and swimming pools, thus depriving them of even the most basic expressions of freedom.