The UN Security Council condemns the Taliban for prohibiting women from working in the organization

28 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –

The United Nations Security Council has signed a resolution condemning the ban on women working promoted by the Taliban in Afghanistan, a measure that in recent months has caused even UN workers to interrupt their work.

The resolution, passed unanimously, calls for the “full, equal, meaningful and safe participation of women and girls in Afghanistan,” and calls on the Taliban “to swiftly reverse their policies and practices that restrict the enjoyment of human rights and the fundamental freedoms of women and girls, including those related to their access to education, employment, freedom of movement and participation in public life”.

In addition, the text requires guaranteeing humanitarian access to workers from the UN and other humanitarian aid organizations, regardless of their gender, in order to attend to the thousands of people who need assistance, be it food, medical or educational.

They have also reiterated their full support for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), whose workers are currently operating from their homes –both men and women– for security reasons, critically reducing the assistance that the organization can provide to Afghans.

The authorities established by the Taliban, after seizing power in August 2021, have faced criticism for their restrictions on civil liberties, including the closure of educational centers and the exclusion of female students from them, amid a battery of discriminatory measures against women that distance them from their jobs and govern aspects of their daily life.

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. However, since April they have reversed this permit, and do not allow humanitarian workers to practice either.