Key Points
- United Nations staff in Afghanistan will not report to work for 48 hours for security reasons.
- The body expressed concern that some female staff had stopped reporting to work.
- The Taliban had topped most female NGO employees from working in December.
The United Nations has told all Afghan staff not to report to work in Afghanistan for 48 hours for security reasons while it seeks information from the Taliban about a ban on Afghan women working for the world body, UN sources have told Reuters.
The United Nations' Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA) earlier on Tuesday expressed concern that female staff in the eastern province of Nangarhar had been stopped from reporting to work.
"We remind de facto authorities that United Nations entities cannot operate and deliver life-saving assistance without female staff," UNAMA said in a statement.
Spokespeople for the Taliban administration, the Afghan information ministry and Nangarhar's provincial administration did not immediately reply to request for comment.
"National UN staff (male and female) will not come to UN offices for 48 hours due to a threat of enforcement of a ban on female national staff in light of enforcement starting today in Jalalabad," said a senior UN official, referring to Nangarhar's capital.
A second UN source said the United Nations was seeking further information from the Taliban authorities.
Since toppling a Western-backed government in 2021, the Taliban administration has tightened controls over women's access to public life, including barring women from university and closing most girls' high schools.
In December, Taliban authorities stopped most female NGO employees from working, which aid workers say has made it more difficult to reach female beneficiaries and could lead donors to hold back funding.
The restrictions did not initially apply to the United Nations and some other international organisations. The UN Deputy Secretary-General in January flagged concerns that authorities could next restrict Afghan women working at international organisations.
A scheduled UN briefing to update member states on the situation in Afghanistan in New York on Tuesday was postponed at the last minute without explanation.
The Taliban administration, which seized power as US-led forces withdrew from Afghanistan after 20 years of war, says it respects women's rights in accordance with its strict interpretation of Islamic law.
