The United Nations suspends some of its programs in Afghanistan after the ban on the aid worker | Afghanistan

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The United Nations said some “time-sensitive” programs in Afghanistan have been paused and warned that many other activities may also need to pause due to the Taliban-led administration’s ban on women aid workers.

UN aid chief Martin Griffiths and the heads of UN agencies and several aid organizations said in a joint statement on Wednesday that “the participation of women in aid delivery is non-negotiable and must continue,” calling on the authorities to reverse the decision.

“Barring women from humanitarian work has immediate life-threatening consequences for all Afghans. Already, some time-critical programs have had to pause due to a shortage of female staff,” the statement reads.

“We cannot ignore the operational constraints now facing us as a humanitarian community,” she said. “We will endeavor to continue life-saving and time-saving activities…but we anticipate that many activities will need to be paused as we cannot provide initial humanitarian assistance without a female aid worker.”

The move came as foreign ministers from 12 countries and the European Union, including the United States and Britain, urged the Taliban-led Afghan government to reverse its decision to ban female employees of aid organisations.

Ministers from countries including the United States, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Australia said the Taliban’s “reckless and dangerous regime” had endangered millions of Afghans who depend on humanitarian aid for their very survival.

Almost all of the large NGO aid agencies operating in Afghanistan have ceased operations while talks continue to persuade the Taliban to reverse or clarify their decision. Tens of thousands of aid workers – many of them the family’s main breadwinner – have been told to stay home during the suspension period, as the United Nations seeks to convince the Taliban of the consequences for ordinary people in Afghanistan.

Aid agencies say that under Afghan customs, they cannot provide women with vital services such as health advice without female staff or doctors.

Not all Taliban ministries support the ban on women working in NGOs, and are looking into a plan that could allow women to continue working in a way that would please the conservative-minded leadership in Kandahar. Ramiz Alekperov, the UN’s chief humanitarian coordinator in Afghanistan, claimed that the Taliban’s health ministry had accepted the need to continue its health-related work, and women could “report to work and perform their services”.

He added that other ministries had contacted the United Nations directly to say that work in the areas of disaster management and emergencies should continue. But there was a lack of clarity about what would be allowed in practice.

Sameera Syed-ur-Rehman, a spokeswoman for the International Rescue Committee, told the Guardian from Kabul that many of the previous cases between aid agencies and the Taliban at checkpoints were about the lack of a Mahran, a male guardian, not whether our female workers. They wore headscarves, but this was the issue raised by the Taliban in announcing a ban on women working for NGOs.

“It puts us in a very difficult situation. Aid prevented a famine last winter. We have 28 million people in dire need of humanitarian assistance, but the de facto authorities have made the decision that women cannot work in national and international NGOs.

“It is practically impossible to continue our business without female employees. This is a conservative society and we need female workers to reach women. This is a country where men and women do not interact in the public space. We will be cut off from half of Afghanistan.”

“The impact is not only in terms of aid, but job losses. We must hope that the de facto authorities understand the implications of this.”

In a rare show of unanimity, the 15-member UN Security Council agreed on Tuesday and called for the full participation of women and girls in Afghanistan. The United Nations said that “these restrictions contradict the commitments made by the Taliban to the Afghan people as well as the expectations of the international community.”

She added that she was “deeply disturbed” by the growing restrictions on women’s education, calling for “the full, equal and meaningful participation of women and girls in Afghanistan”.

The Taliban has already suspended university education for women and secondary education for girls.

Shahabuddin Dilawar, the Taliban’s acting minister of mining and oil, said that by April a decision will be taken on opening schools and universities for girls, which is in line with Sharia law and “Afghan customs”.

He told TOLOnews TV that the decision of Haibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban leader, regarding the closure of schools and universities may be temporary.

Reuters contributed to this report

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