NewsWorldThe UN urged the Taliban to 'revoke' the ban on women from working

The UN urged the Taliban to ‘revoke’ the ban on women from working

Guterres urged the Taliban to “revoke” the ban on women from working for the UN. Photo: AFP

The UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, urged the Taliban to “immediately revoke the decision” to ban Afghan women from working for the United Nations in the Asian country, his spokesman said in a statement on Wednesday.

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

The UN announced last Tuesday that The Taliban government banned women from working for the organization throughout the country, which according to the organization’s humanitarian aid coordinator in Afghanistan, Ramiz Alakbarov, it goes “against the Charter of the United Nations” and “violates” women’s rights.

Of the 3,900 people who work for the UN in Afghanistan, about 600 are women and 400 of them are Afghansaccording to the UN.

“Numerous donors and taxpayers have stopped funding aid programs for Afghanistan,” Alakbarov warned.

Until now, the UN aid program for 2023 only raised between “3 and 4%” of what was forecast, he reported.

In this country, Victim of one of the worst humanitarian crises on the planet, some 23 million people depend on humanitarian aid, according to the UN.

“In the history of the United Nations, no other regime had tried to prohibit women from working for the organization simply because they are women,” said the head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (Manua). , Rosa Otounbaïeva, reported the AFP news agency.

These women are essential to UN humanitarian operations, AFP Photo affirmed
These women “are essential” to UN humanitarian operations, they said. Photo: AFP

Women’s rights have gradually eroded since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, following the withdrawal of US-led forces after two decades of occupation.

Since his return to power, the taliban impose a rigorous interpretation of islam, as they had done before being expelled in 2001and they multiplied the measures to curtail the rights of women, who have been prohibited from going to university and secondary school.

They were also excluded from many public jobs or receive poverty wages, were prohibited from traveling without the company of a male relative, and must fully cover their bodies when in public spaces.

Guterres also called for the withdrawal “all restrictive measures against women and girls in terms of work, education and freedom of movement”.

The Taliban authorities enacted laws to prevent access to education for girls and women.

The measure against the UN was preceded on December 24, 2022 by a similar one against NGOs.

back then, the Afghan Ministry of Economy issued a decree ordering all NGOs, whether national or international, to suspend women’s employment contracts until further notice.

After a series of protests, as well as warnings from various organizations to paralyze humanitarian aid, the spokesman for said ministry, Abdul Rahman Habib, stated in January that women could work in the NGOs they wanted.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Latest Posts

Read More
More