KABUL (Pajhwok): The United Nations says it has informed around 3,300 Afghan staff members not to come to work for the next two days.
The world body took the step after the interim government indicated on Tuesday it would enforce curbs on Afghan women working for the UN.
In New York, a spokesman for the UN chief told a news conference the caretaker government in Kabul issued an order barring Afghan women from continuing to work for the world body.
Stéphane Dujarric said: “Our colleagues at UNAMA received word of an order by the de facto authorities that bans female national staff members of the UN from working.”
Calling the caretaker government order a disturbing move, he said they were looking into how the development would affect UN operations in the country.
The spokesman said: “We expect to have more meetings with the de facto authorities today (Wednesday) in Kabul; we are trying to seek clarity.”
In response to a query, Dujarric said the formal communication from the Taliban leadership indicated the order would be effective across the entire country.
Any such ban would be unacceptable and “frankly inconceivable” for the secretary-general, commented Dujarric, who expected a strong reaction from the Security Council.
Meanwhile, Reuters quoted two UN sources as saying that concerns over enforcement had prompted the organisation to ask all staff - male and female - not to come to work for 48 hours.
Afghan women were banned from working for NGOs in December 2022. Initially, the ban did not apply to the UN and some other international groups.
But Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for Islamic Emirate, defended the decision, insisting the ban was in accordance with Islamic guidelines.
He told media: “The Islamic Emirate has now come to the conclusion that women do not need to work in NGOs in fields where they are not needed.”
In December 2022, the Ministry of Economy issued a letter restricting women and girls from working in domestic and NGOs over non-observance of <em>hijab</em>.
Mujahid added: “In compliance with the decree of the Islamic Emirate, which seeks to implement <em>sharia</em> law in the country, women should not go to NGOs, just like government institutions that have been working without women for the past one hand half year.”
He argued government officials were responsible for the safety and security of all Afghans, but they were unable to do this for women working for NGOs, because these institutions were not independent and not under government control.
mud
