United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) in a statement on Tuesday said that it has initiated an operational review period in Afghanistan till May 5 following Taliban’s ban on women working at UN offices.
It states that the review will be done under the supervision of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan and head of UNAMA Roza Otunbayeva.
During the review period, the UN in Afghanistan will conduct the necessary consultations, make required operational adjustments, and accelerate contingency planning for all possible outcomes.
UNAMA added that it will, however, try to maintain principled and constructive engagement with all possible levels of the Taliban even during this review period.
Employees working at UN offices, both men and women, have been instructed not to report to work, except for some emergency tasks.
The UN mission in Afghanistan emphasised that even though it is reviewing its actions, it will continue to go on with the time-critical humanitarian activities and assess the scope, parameters and consequences of the ban, and pause activities where impeded.
The United Nations in Afghanistan stressed that the ban by the Taliban on Afghan women from working is discriminatory and severely restricts women and girls’ participation in most areas of public and daily life in Afghanistan.
It added that the ban is unlawful under international law and any negative consequences of this crisis for the Afghan people will be the responsibility of the Taliban.
