The UN announced Thursday the temporary suspension of several aid programs in Afghanistan due to a lack of female staff, after the Taliban banned women from working in non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
“Some critical programs have already had to be put on hold due to a shortage of female staff.“, according to a statement from the heads of the main UN humanitarian agencies and other NGOs present in Afghanistan.
Taliban ban Afghan women from working in NGOs
The participation of women is essential in “all aspects of the humanitarian response in Afghanistan”, since they can access “populations that their male counterparts cannot reach”, so participation in aid programs “is not negotiable and must continue”, added the same note.
In this sense, those responsible for humanitarian programs in Afghanistan regretted that the Taliban ban “has immediate consequences” in a country where more than 28 million people need help to survive.
Since the Taliban banned women from working at NGOs and international agencies like the UN last Saturday, several NGOs including Save the Children, CARE and the Norwegian Refugee Council, among others, have suspended programs in Afghanistan.
The Afghan fundamentalist government ban came days after women were barred from collegewhich expands the ban on female secondary education, imposed when the Taliban came to power in August last year.
The Taliban exclude women from all levels of education. And they forbid you to enter the mosques
Since then, women’s rights have been restricted in Afghanistan with restrictions such as gender segregation in public places, the imposition of veiling and the requirement to be accompanied by a male relative on long journeys.
Source: Observadora
