KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has called on the Taliban to lift its ban on female UN staff in Afghanistan, emphasizing that their work is crucial for providing aid to those in need.
In a post on X on Tuesday, OHCHR said it has been 100 days since Afghan women employed by the UN were barred from entering offices, urging the Taliban to remove the restrictions.
“We call on de facto authorities to lift all such restrictions to allow their critical support to reach all those in need,” the office said. “Systematic discrimination against women and girls is not in Afghanistan’s interest and must end immediately.”
The ban, first enforced on September 7, initially barred female UN staff from entering offices in Kabul, Herat, and Mazar-e-Sharif, before being extended to other provinces. A similar restriction had been imposed in April 2023 following the Taliban’s broader curbs on Afghan women working in NGOs and government offices, though limited arrangements later allowed some female UN staff to continue their work. The UN says the ban has affected hundreds of female employees, some of whom continue working from home to support aid delivery and other critical programs.
UN Women, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), and other aid agencies have repeatedly called on the Taliban to reverse the ban, saying it violates the UN Charter’s principles of human rights and equality and significantly undermines the organization’s ability to provide aid safely and effectively, particularly to women and girls.
The ban is part of a broader series of Taliban restrictions targeting women and girls, including prohibitions on education beyond the sixth grade, most forms of employment, long-distance travel without a male guardian, access to public parks and spaces, and the operation of beauty salons. Rights groups, UN experts, and Afghan activists have described these policies as gender apartheid, leaving women increasingly marginalized and isolated from public life.
The UN has emphasized that female staff are essential for reaching women and girls in communities where cultural restrictions prevent male staff from providing assistance, warning that the ban threatens the delivery of vital humanitarian support across the country.
