UN demands Taliban lift ban on local female aid workers

The United Nations has called on Afghanistan’s Taliban administration to lift restrictions preventing local female staff from reporting to work, warning that vital humanitarian operations, including earthquake relief, are under threat.

According to a UN statement, Taliban security forces have been deployed at the entrances of UN compounds and field offices, turning away Afghan women staff.

The move, the organisation cautioned, risks cutting off life-saving support to vulnerable communities across the country.

Afghanistan is grappling with multiple crises: a devastating earthquake in late August that killed more than 2,200 people, the return of millions of refugees expelled from Pakistan and Iran, and severe drought in the country’s north.

Humanitarian agencies say the presence of female workers is essential for reaching women and children in need, especially in conservative areas where male aid staff are not permitted to engage directly with women.

The Taliban has gradually tightened restrictions on women since regaining power in 2021, banning girls from secondary schools and universities and limiting women’s employment.

Aid groups, however, had previously been granted informal leeway to employ women under “culturally sensitive” arrangements that allowed the UN to deliver critical assistance.

“Such arrangements have enabled the United Nations to deliver critical assistance across the country, through a culturally sensitive and principled approach ensuring the delivery of assistance by women, for women,” the UN stressed in its statement.

The Taliban, which has yet to respond to the latest appeal, insists that women’s rights are respected under its interpretation of Islamic law and has pledged to ensure women receive aid.

Yet restrictions such as requiring women aid workers to travel only with a male guardian have hampered relief efforts.

The World Health Organisation and other agencies have warned that access to women in urgent need has been severely constrained under these rules.

This week, the UN launched an emergency appeal for USD40 million to assist earthquake victims.

However, donor confidence remains fragile, with many countries hesitant to fund programmes that exclude women, a stance reinforced by the UN charter’s prohibition of gender discrimination.