Guterres warns that without women the UN will not be able to operate in Afghanistan after the Taliban ban

5 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –

The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, has “strongly” condemned the prohibition of his workers in Afghanistan to work in the country, specifically in the province of Nangarhar (east), after the order this Tuesday of the authorities established by the Taliban in the country.

“If this measure is not repealed, it will inevitably reduce our ability to provide vital help to people in need,” he lamented through his Twitter account.

For his part, Guterres’ spokesman at the UN, Stéphane Dujarric, has described the news as “disturbing”: “We hope to have more meetings with the ‘de facto’ authorities in Kabul tomorrow (this Wednesday), in which we will try to get more clarity on the matter.

As confirmed by the spokesman, it is not clear if the ban on its workers to operate extends to the entire country or only to the province of Nangarhar, since this is the one that would have ordered it “formally” but it is a directive that could be applied to the rest of Afghan territory.

“We have been informed by various means that this would apply to the entire country. As I have said, we are going to meet with our contacts at the Foreign Ministry, and then we will have more details,” he explained.

In addition, he has insisted that “although it would go without saying, unfortunately it must be said: our female workers are essential for the UN to provide vital assistance.”

The Ministry of Economy of Afghanistan’s Taliban authority issued a decree in December ordering all NGOs, whether national or international, to suspend women’s employment contracts until further notice.

After a series of protests, as well as warnings from various organizations to halt humanitarian aid, the ministry’s spokesman, Abdul Rahman Habib, stated in January that women could work in any NGO they wanted.