The UN said on Tuesday it was condemned to a “dreadful choice”, that of whether or not to continue its operations in Afghanistan, after the Taliban government’s decision to ban Afghan women from working for the organization.
The United Nations announced on April 4 that the Taliban was now banning its Afghan employees, hitherto spared from such measures applied to NGOs, from working with the organization throughout the country.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) noted in a statement on Tuesday that the ban was “illegal under international law, including the UN Charter, and for this reason the United Nations cannot comply”. .
“With this ban, the de facto Taliban authorities seek to force the United Nations to make an ugly choice between staying and providing aid to the Afghan people, or respecting the norms and principles to which we are bound,” said- she.
The head of UNAMA, Rosa Otunbayeva, recommended a review of the functioning of the United Nations in Afghanistan which will last “until May 5, 2023”, the statement said.
“During this period, the UN in Afghanistan will conduct all necessary consultations, make the required operational adjustments and accelerate the preparation of alternatives for all possible outcomes. »
“It should be clear that any negative consequences of this crisis for the Afghan people will be the responsibility of the de facto authorities,” the text adds.
Some 3,900 people work for the UN in Afghanistan, including 3,300 nationals, according to the organization. About 600 women are among these employees, including nearly 400 Afghans.
The United Nations considers these women essential to their operations in this country, which is in the grip of one of the worst humanitarian crises on the planet, where approximately 23 million men, women and children are concerned by aid, according to the UN.
It is indeed not allowed in Afghan society, deeply conservative and patriarchal, for a woman to speak to a man who is not a close relative. A woman receiving aid can therefore only come into contact with another woman.
Taliban authorities criticized
The UN has since asked its female and male staff not to come to the office, except for those responsible for essential tasks, the statement said.
“It is absolutely clear that no authority can give instructions to the United Nations, whether on the basis of gender or any other principle, on who should be employed,” the humanitarian coordinator of the United Nations told AFP. UN for Afghanistan, Ramiz Alakbarov, after this ban.
“It’s a big violation of women’s rights”, and the UN “cannot accept that, neither in Afghanistan nor in any other country” and “make an exception”, he had insisted.
The decision was condemned by the international community. The Taliban authorities, severely criticized, did not explain the reasons.
In December, they announced that the 1,260 NGOs operating in the country were now banned from working with Afghan women, due to “serious complaints” about non-compliance with the wearing of the hijab, which must fully cover the body and face. . The UN, however, was not involved.
Several NGOs then announced that they were suspending their activities, before resuming them in mid-January with the support of their female staff in a few sectors benefiting from exemptions such as health and nutrition.
Since their return to power in August 2021, the Taliban have returned to the austere interpretation of Islam which marked their first passage to power (1996-2001) and have multiplied the draconian measures against women.
Access to university and secondary school is thus forbidden to them.
They have also been excluded from many public jobs, or are paid a pittance to stay at home. They are not allowed to travel without being accompanied by a male relative and must cover themselves fully when leaving their homes.