UN humanitarian chief to visit Afghanistan following Taliban’s ban on women aid workers

UNITED NATIONS (AA) – UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths will visit Afghanistan in the coming weeks after the Taliban barred women from working as aid workers, said a UN official.

“We will seek to meet the highest possible authorities,” UN Deputy Special Representative, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan Ramiz Alakbarov told reporters at the UN headquarters on Thursday.

The UN said on Wednesday that some time-critical programs have had to stop temporarily due to lack of female staff following the Taliban’s latest ban.

“This comes at a time when more than 28 million people in Afghanistan, including millions of women and children, require assistance to survive as the country grapples with the risk of famine conditions, economic decline, entrenched poverty and a brutal winter,” said the head of UN agencies and a number of aid organizations.

Alakbarov said that launching new programs will be practically impossible for the UN in this environment.

He called for the international community to engage with the Taliban through dialogue rather than pressure to reverse bans on women’s rights.

The Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan on Aug. 15, 2021, followed by the disruption of international financial assistance has left the worn-torn country in economic, humanitarian and human rights crises.

The US and other Western nations suspended financial assistance to Afghanistan after seizure of power by the Taliban. The Biden administration froze Afghan central bank foreign reserves worth $7 billion as part of its sanctions on the Taliban.