ISLAMABAD (AP) – The Taleban’s chief spokesman said yesterday there are no obstacles for the United Nations (UN) to function in Afghanistan, after they barred Afghan women from working at the global body.
Last week, the country’s Taleban rulers took a step further in the restrictive measures they have imposed on women and said that female Afghan staffers employed with the UN mission can no longer report for work. The ban is being actively enforced by the country’s intelligence agency, which reports to the Taleban’s leadership in Kandahar.
The UN said it cannot accept the decision, calling it unlawful and an unparalleled violation of women’s rights. It said women are crucial for the delivery of life-saving aid to millions of Afghans, and has instructed its national staff, male and female, to stay at home.
Taleban-led government chief spokesman and part of the supreme leader’s inner circle Zabihullah Mujahid denied authorities were to blame for Afghanistan’s many crises.
The decision to bar Afghan women from working at the UN was an internal matter and should be respected by all sides, Mujahid said, as he set out the Taleban’s position and demands to the international community.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi, called the order barring Afghan women from NGO and UN work “an internal values-based issue” that is not harming others.
The UN’s head of mission in the country Roza Otunbayeva “initiated an operational review period” lasting until May 5 in response to the ban, according to a UN statement.
During this time, the UN will “conduct the necessary consultations, make required operational adjustments, and accelerate contingency planning for all possible outcomes”.
