UN says ban on women has stopped some aid programs in Afghanistan

United Nations:

The United Nations said on Wednesday that some “time-critical” programs in Afghanistan were temporarily halted and warned that many other activities would also need to be halted because of the Taliban-led administration’s ban on female aid workers. .

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

“Banning women from humanitarian work has immediate life-threatening consequences for all Afghans,” the statement said. Already, the lack of female staff has led to the temporary halt of some time-critical programs “

“We can no longer ignore the operational constraints we now face as a human community,” it said. “We will attempt to continue with life-saving, time-critical activities … but we see that many activities will need to be halted as we cannot provide in-principle humanitarian assistance without female aid workers.”

A ban on female aid workers was announced by the Islamic Taliban-led administration on Saturday. It follows a ban imposed on women attending universities last week. The girls were barred from attending high school in March.

“No country can afford to exclude half of its population from contributing to society,” the statement said. Commissioner for Refugees and Human Rights.

Four major global groups whose humanitarian aid has reached millions of Afghans said on Sunday they were suspending their operations because they are unable to run their programs without female staff.

The UN statement said the ban on female aid workers “comes at a time when more than 28 million people in Afghanistan … need assistance to survive as the country grapples with famine, economic decline, severe Struggling with poverty and the risk of a brutal winter.”

UN agencies and aid groups – including World Vision International, CARE International, Save the Children US, Mercy Corps and Interaction – have made it their mission to provide “free, principled, life-saving assistance to all women, men and children”. Pledged to stand firm in commitment. Who needs it.”

The Taliban seized power in August last year. He largely banned girls’ education when he came to power two decades ago, but says his policies have changed. The Taliban-led administration is not recognized internationally.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)