Ban on UN’s Afghan Women Staffers Gross Violation of Human Rights, Says Bennett

The former US special envoy called the Taliban’s decision to ban Afghan female staffers from working in the United Nations offices in Afghanistan wrong. He stressed that the decision will likely increase the suffering of the people in Afghanistan and will lead to reduced international assistance.

Khalilzad emphasised that the recent Taliban decision will complicate international dealings with the group and will be detrimental to the interests of Afghanistan.

The former special envoy of the US for Afghanistan added, “Afghan women have inalienable rights to education and work. These rights are recognised in Islam and international conventions.”

Sources confirmed to Afghanistan International on Tuesday that the Taliban had verbally told UN offices that local female staff would no longer work with the organisation. Following this order, the Taliban forces prevented female employees from entering the United Nations offices in Nangarhar province.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) expressed its deep concerns and warned the Taliban officials that the United Nations cannot continue its work without female employees.

Taliban representatives repeatedly promised in the Doha negotiations that they would respect the right to work and education for women and girls. However, the group now excludes women and girls from schools, universities, and working in private and public sectors of the country.

Noor claimed that the Taliban has been killing people mysteriously under the garb of destroying ISIS hideouts.

The former governor of Balkh called the Taliban’s actions as "barbaric" and asked the international community, especially the United Nations, not to let the people become victims of the group's policies.

Noor’s statement about the Taliban’s killing comes a day after Mohammad Asif Waziri, the spokesperson of Taliban police in Balkh province, claimed on Monday that the Taliban forces had killed six ISIS members during a military operation in Nahar-e-Shahi district.

The Taliban has not released more details about the attack or the details of the dead men.

Mersad, a media outlet leaning towards the Taliban, reported that this operation was carried out in Street 13 of the Engineer Mehdi area.

According to the new report of WFP, the organisation was supposed to aid 13 million Afghans in April, but due to the lack of funds, only nine million people had been provided support.

WFP stressed that nearly 20 million people are projected to be acutely food-insecure between November 2022 and March 2023.

The World Food Programme added four million people are acutely malnourished, including 3.2 million children under the age of 5.

The United Nations has identified 28.3 million people, which comprise two-thirds of Afghanistan's population, as people in need of humanitarian assistance.

WFP said that hunger is primarily driven by the economic crisis that has gripped Afghanistan since August 2021, compounded by decades of conflict, climate shocks, and severe restrictions on the rights of women and girls to work and pursue higher education.

The World Food Programme has reported that 82 of the 100 partner institutions of the organisation are in fully operational and female staff from 80 partner organisations are engaged in activities across all provinces of Afghanistan.

However, on International Day for Mine Awareness & Assistance, OCHA stressed that more than 4,150 identified hazards remain, posing a lethal threat to communities, in particular children in Afghanistan.

In previous reports, according to the United Nations, 150 people are killed by land mines in Afghanistan each month. Eight out of every 10 victims are children who inadvertently pick up an unexploded ordnance, some of which resemble toys.

Decades of conflict have littered Afghanistan with land mines and other explosive remnants of war. As a result, today the country is one of the most contaminated in the world. Without de-mining, Afghans harmed by decades of war cannot build themselves a safe future in their country. Without effective de-mining operations, farming cannot happen, internally displaced people cannot return to their villages, and education cannot be effective as children cannot go to school.

The Mine Action Programme of Afghanistan (MAPA) was established in 1989.

However, in both cases, there has not been any independent source to confirm the Taliban’s accounts of the operations.

Independent sources have only confirmed explosions and gun fire had been heard in Zaranj city, but it is not clear who the Taliban forces targeted in the operations.

Mohammad Asif Waziri, the spokesperson of Taliban police in Balkh province, claimed on Monday that the Taliban forces have killed six ISIS members in a military operation in Nahar-e-Shahi district.

The Taliban has not released more details about the attack or the details of the dead men.

Mersad, a media outlet leaning towards the Taliban, reported that this operation was carried out in Street 13 of the Engineer Mehdi area.

Earlier, the Taliban had also claimed to have killed ISIS fighters who were involved in the attacks on Chinese citizens and the Pakistani embassy in Kabul and Nimroz provinces.

Due to severe restrictions imposed on independent media and journalists by the Taliban, it is not easy to confirm or deny the group’s claims, particularly when they wage operations against targets across the country. The group pressurises the media outlets that present different accounts than the Taliban’s narrative on incidents in Afghanistan.