Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/AFGHANISTAN: A senior UN official in Afghanistan on Sunday met Afghan Taliban Deputy Prime Minister Maulvi Abdul Salam Hanafi in Kabul to discuss the ban on women working for non-governmental organisations.
UN officials’ mission in Kabul
According to the Associated Press (AP), the Taliban-led government’s ban on women working for nongovernmental groups has prompted international agencies to suspend operations in the country.
Deputy head of the UN Mission in Kabul Potzel Markus met with Maulvi Abdul Salam Hanafi in Kabul to discuss the ban and other measures including barring women from pursuing education.
The latest ban has raised fears that people could be deprived of food, education, healthcare and other critical services as more than half of Afghanistan’s population needs urgent humanitarian assistance.
International aid agencies have warned that the ban could have catastrophic consequences for Afghanistan as hundreds and thousands of people could die because of the Taliban decision.
The UN mission said that the ban on women and girls from working for nongovernmental groups and denying them from acquiring education and training harms millions of citizens in Afghanistan and prevents the delivery of vital funds to Afghan men, women and children.
Potzel met the Taliban leader amid mounting international concerns over the curtailing of women’s freedom and rights in Afghanistan.
