Taliban’s restriction on Afghan women working for the UN is denounced by the Security Council

On Thursday, the UN Security Council unanimously denounced the Taliban government’s prohibition on Afghan women working for the UN in Afghanistan and urged Taliban officials to “swiftly reverse” an assault on women’s and girls’ rights.

The ban on Afghan women working for the UN, according to the resolution, is “unprecedented in the history of the United Nations,” affirms “the indispensable role of women in Afghan society,” and “undermines human rights and humanitarian principles.”

More than 90 nations, including those “from Afghanistan’s immediate neighborhood, the Muslim world, and from all corners of the earth,” co-sponsored the resolution, according to UAE UN Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh.

She addressed the council, “This… support makes our primary message today even more significant—the world will not remain quiet while women in Afghanistan are marginalized from society.

The Security Council decision was made only days before an international conference on Afghanistan was to be held in Doha on May 1-2. Special representatives on Afghanistan from several nations will meet behind closed doors with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to discuss a cohesive strategy for dealing with the Taliban.

Deputy US Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood addressed the council, “We will not stand for the Taliban’s mistreatment of women and girls. These choices are unacceptable. They are unique to this region of the globe.

Afghanistan is suffering irreversible harm as a result of Taliban decrees.

After prohibiting the majority of Afghan women from working for humanitarian relief organizations in December, the Taliban started implementing the ban on women working for the UN earlier this month. They have also strengthened restrictions on women’s access to public life after ousting the Western-backed administration in 2021, including prohibiting women from attending universities and shutting girls’ high schools.

According to the Taliban, who adhere to a rigorous interpretation of Islamic law, women’s rights are respected. Taliban representatives said that the choice of female humanitarian workers is a “internal issue.”

The Security Council decision acknowledges the need of addressing significant economic issues confronting Afghanistan, including by utilising Central Bank assets for the benefit of the Afghan people.

Billion-dollar reserves held by the bank in the US were frozen by the US, which eventually moved half of the funds to a trust fund in Switzerland that was managed by US, Swiss, and Afghan trustees.

“As of today, what we have seen is only that assets have been transferred from one account to another, but not a single penny has been returned to the Afghan people,” said Geng Shuang, China’s deputy ambassador to the UN.

Vassily Nebenzia, the Russian ambassador to the UN, also demanded the return of the assets owned by the Afghan Central Bank.