UN Women said on Sunday that the Taliban have barred the organisation’s female Afghan staff from entering United Nations offices for the past three months. The organisation warned that prolonged restrictions threaten the delivery of life-saving services.
Susan Ferguson, UN Women’s representative in Afghanistan, said in a statement that humanitarian assistance “must be delivered by women, to women.” She noted that for 91 days Afghan female UN staff had continued their essential work from home and in the field despite being denied office access.
Ferguson said Afghan women are central to the UN’s operations in the country, adding that only with their presence can the organisation reach women and girls safely and provide culturally appropriate support. She said the United Nations remains firmly opposed to the Taliban’s restrictions, which she described as violations of fundamental human rights and principles of equality enshrined in the UN Charter, and measures that undermine the organisation’s ability to function.
She called for an immediate reversal of the ban on Afghan female staff and contractors entering UN premises, urging the Taliban to guarantee their safe access to offices and field sites so that assistance can reach the women and girls most in need.
Sources told Afghanistan International in early September that Taliban security forces had blocked female UN employees from entering the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) office in Kabul. According to the sources, Taliban personnel told the women that they were prohibited from entering their workplace by order of Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.
The UN later warned that the move would severely limit efforts to reach vulnerable communities in multiple provinces. The organisation said that on 7 September Taliban forces prevented female Afghan staff from entering UN facilities in Kabul, Herat, and Mazar-e Sharif, posting guards outside and informing women they were not permitted to work for the UN or any institution.
The Taliban had previously banned Afghan women and girls from working for domestic and international organisations, though a special arrangement with the UN had allowed female UN staff to continue operating. The UN has also said that gender-based restrictions have impeded women’s access to health care in areas affected by recent earthquakes.
