KABUL: The United Nations is being forced to make an “appalling choice” over whether to continue operations in Afghanistan while the Taliban government bans women from working for the organisation, the world body said on Tuesday.

Taliban authorities have imposed a slew of restrictions on Afghan women since seizing power in 2021, including banning them from higher education and many government jobs.

In December, they banned Afghan women from working for domestic and foreign non-governmental organisations, and on April 4 extended that to UN offices across the country.

In a statement on Tuesday, the UN mission in Afghanistan said the ban was “unlawful under international law, including the UN Charter, and for that reason the United Nations cannot comply”.

“Through this ban, the Taliban de facto authorities seek to force the United Nations into having to make an appalling choice between staying and delivering in support of the Afghan people and standing by the norms and principles we are duty-bound to uphold,” it said.

The increasing curbs are reminiscent of the Taliban’s first government between 1996 and 2001, when the UN said they were responsible for repeated human rights violations — particularly against girls and women.

UN mission head Roza Otunbayeva has initiated an “operational review” to decide next steps, the statement said.

“It should be clear that any negative consequences of this crisis for the Afghan people will be the responsibility of the de facto authorities,” it said. The world body employs around 400 Afghan women in the country.

UN humanitarian coordinator in Afghanistan Ramiz Alakbarov said soon after the ban that the decree violated the world body’s charter.

“It is absolutely clear that no authority can give instructions to the United Nations… on who should be employed,” he said. “We are not going to make an exception.”

Since the ban was announced, the UN has ordered all its Afghan staff, men and women, not to report to the offices until further notice.

The ban triggered international outrage, with the Taliban authorities coming under severe criticism. They have so far not issued any clarification or reason for the UN ban.

Local employees make up the bulk of the 600 women working for the UN in the country. In total, there are about 3,300 Afghans in the country’s 3,900-strong UN workforce.

Many NGOs suspended all operations in the country in protest after the ban on women staff was announced in December, piling further misery on Afghanistan’s citizens, half of whom face hunger, according to aid agencies.

It was agreed after days of discussion that women working in the health sector would be exempt from the decree, although the UN also enjoyed a general exemption.

Published in Dawn, April 12th, 2023