Taliban bans Afghan female staff, UN says

The United Nations has said a Taliban bid has barred Afghan women from moving for the body.

The UN said that portion determination has been nary written communication, the Taliban person informed them verbally.

It has told its Afghan unit - men and women - to not study to enactment for 48 hours, until it has clarity connected the substance successful meetings with the Taliban.

There has been an expanding clampdown connected women's freedoms since the Taliban seized powerfulness successful 2021.

The UN has called the determination "unacceptable and frankly inconceivable".

"This is the latest successful a disturbing inclination undermining the quality of assistance organizations to scope those astir successful need", a UN spokesperson said, adding that it "cannot run and present life-saving assistance without pistillate staff".

Female workers play a captious relation successful on-the-ground assistance operations, peculiarly successful identifying different women successful need. The UN has been moving to bring humanitarian assistance to 23 cardinal radical successful Afghanistan, which is reeling from a terrible economical and humanitarian crisis.

Foreign pistillate workers are exempt from the ban. But if implemented, this would beryllium the astir important trial of the aboriginal of UN operations successful Afghanistan, and the narration betwixt the organisation and the Taliban government.

The UN has said that successful the eastbound Nangarhar province, section Taliban authorities prevented Afghan women from going to enactment astatine UN facilities connected Tuesday.'

In response, Secretary General Antonio Guterres tweeted, "I powerfully condemn the prohibition of our Afghan pistillate colleagues from moving successful Afghanistan's Nangarhar province. If this measurement is not reversed, it volition inevitably undermine our quality to present life-saving assistance to the radical who request it."

This means the UN is nary longer exempt from a prohibition connected women moving for each NGOs - prevention for those successful the healthcare assemblage - implemented successful December. Female workers successful the wellness assemblage are expected to inactive beryllium allowed to work, but lone if they study straight to wellness facilities not to offices.

Since the Taliban's instrumentality to power, teens and women person been barred from schools and colleges. Women are required to beryllium dressed successful a mode that lone reveals their eyes, and indispensable beryllium accompanied by a antheral comparative if they are travelling much than 72km (48 miles).

And past November, women were banned from parks, gyms and swimming pools, stripping distant the simplest of freedoms.

In February Prof Ismail Mashal, an outspoken professional of the Taliban government's prohibition connected acquisition for women, was besides arrested successful Kabul portion handing retired escaped books.