UN Female Employees Banned from Working in Eastern Afghanistan

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan announced today, Tuesday, that female employees in the eastern province of Nangarhar have been prohibited from attending work. The mission added in a statement, "We remind the de facto authorities that UN entities cannot operate and provide the necessary assistance to save lives without female employees." UN Secretary-General spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric stated, "This is a violation of fundamental human rights that women cannot be deprived of." UN Secretary-General's special representative for Afghanistan, Roza Otunbayeva, stated in a separate statement: "This ban is illegal under international law and cannot be accepted," adding that the move also violates the UN Charter. She noted, "In the history of the United Nations, no other regime has ever attempted to prevent women from working in the organization simply because they are women." She mentioned that she is in high-level communication with the Taliban to retract this decision. The Taliban has not responded to requests for comment. Since the Taliban ousted the Western-backed government in 2021, they have tightened restrictions on women, including banning female students from attending university and closing secondary schools for girls.