Human rights
After banning Afghan women from working, the UN
The UN has said it faces a “terrible choice” to continue its operations in Afghanistan or not after the Taliban banned their fellow citizens from working for it.
Published
Nearly 3,900 people work in Afghanistan, including 3,300 at the UN, the organization said. About 600 women, including nearly 400 Afghans, are on the staff.
AFP
The United Nations announced on April 4 that the Taliban would no longer ban their Afghan staff, which has so far been exempt from these types of measures applied to non-governmental organizations, from working with the organization across the country. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (MANUA) said on Tuesday that the ban was “illegal under international law, including the UN Charter, and for this reason, cannot be complied with by the United Nations”.
“Through this embargo, Taliban officials are trying to force the United Nations to make an ugly choice between providing accommodation and aid to the Afghan people or upholding the norms and policies we must adhere to,” he said.
Manua’s president, Rosa Otunbaïeva, suggested a review of the United Nations operation in Afghanistan, which will last “until May 5, 2023,” the press release noted. “It must be clear to the Afghan people that any negative consequences of this crisis are the responsibility of the authorities.”
400 Afghan women were rescued by the UN
Nearly 3,900 people work in Afghanistan, including 3,300 at the UN, the organization said. About 600 women, including nearly 400 Afghans, are on the staff. In the grip of the planet’s worst humanitarian crisis, with some 23 million men, women and children affected by aid, the United Nations considers them essential to its operations in the country. , UN
In deeply conservative and patriarchal Afghan society, a woman is not really allowed to talk to a man who is not a close relative. So a woman receiving help can only interact with one other woman.
“This is a gross violation of women’s rights and the UN cannot accept it in Afghanistan or any other country.”
Ramis Alakbarov, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan
UN It has asked its female and male employees not to come to the office except those responsible for essential work. After the ban, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Afghanistan, Ramis Alakbarov, said, “It is absolutely clear that no authority can give instructions to the United Nations on the basis of gender or any other principle.” “This is a major violation of women’s rights”, and the UN said.
consensus belief
The decision was condemned by the international community. In December, the Taliban announced that 1,260 NGOs had been banned from working with Afghan women because of “serious complaints” about wearing the hijab, a full-body covering. the face But the UN
Several NGOs announced they were suspending their operations, before resuming them in mid-January, with support for their female staff in a few sectors that benefit from exemptions, such as health and nutrition.
Since their return to power in August 2021, the Taliban have returned to the stricter interpretation of Islam that marked their first rule (1996-2001), and have ramped up their crackdown on women. Thus they are barred from attending university and secondary schools. They are excluded from many public jobs or are paid meager wages to stay at home. They are not allowed to travel without being accompanied by a male relative and must cover themselves completely when they leave their homes.
(AFP)
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