UN Likely to leave Afghanistan due to restrictions on women imposed by Taliban

According to the head of the UN Development Program, the UN has stated that it is prepared to leave Afghanistan in May if it cannot persuade the Taliban to allow Afghan women to work for the organization. To get around an edict that forbids local women from working for the organization, the UN is speaking with the Taliban.

It is reasonable to suggest that the current situation requires the entire United Nations system to stand back and reassess its capacity to function there, according to UNDP Administrator Achin Steiner. Nevertheless, debating basic values like human rights is not the point.

According to Nangarhar, Afghanistan-based Khaama News, the UN has raised "severe concerns" after the Afghan female UN staff employees were prohibited from reporting to work in the eastern region of Afghanistan.

The UN expressed significant concern that female Afghan national UN staff members had been stopped from reporting to work in Nangarhar province. As women make up the majority of the personnel at the international organization, the UN warned the Taliban that the life-saving aid would be in jeopardy without them.

The UN stated on Twitter, according to Khaama Press, "We remind de facto authorities that United Nations institutions cannot operate and give life-saving assistance without female workers."

International organizations, notably the UN, have frequently voiced their worries over women's exclusion from the assistance industry, claiming that these organizations won't be able to reach poor women without female personnel.

After taking control of Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban has put restrictions on women and girls, prohibiting them from receiving an education and finding work. The Taliban first forbade girls from continuing their education above the sixth grade; in December 2022, a proclamation forbade Afghan women from pursuing higher education and working for both domestic and foreign NGOs.

According to Khaama Press, national and international groups have voiced strong opposition to the oppressive restrictions on women, saying that they will impede the delivery of humanitarian relief to Afghanistan's most vulnerable citizens.