Monitoring Desk
KABUL: The UN aid chief on Wednesday said the humanitarian community was speaking with Afghan Taliban officials to try to issue written guidelines and grant further exemptions to allow some female aid workers to operate despite a ban on women NGO staff.
UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths said that during discussions with Taliban authorities in Kabul over the last few days, his message had been: “If you can not help us rescind the ban, give us the exemptions to allow women to operate.”
Taliban authorities ordered NGOs, many of whom operate for the United Nations, to stop most female employees working last month.
UN official hopeful for positive outcome of talks
Griffiths said some exemptions to the female ban had been granted in education and health, and they were hearing signs of a likely exemption in agriculture.
However, he said much more was needed, with nutrition, water, and sanitation services a priority to prevent severe illnesses and malnutrition during the country’s severe humanitarian crisis.
He said that based on discussions with authorities in recent days, the UN and humanitarian agencies were hopeful they would create a set of written guidelines to allow NGOs to operate with female staff in more areas with certainty in the coming weeks.
“The next few weeks are crucial to see if the humanitarian community … can stay and deliver,” he said.
