Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD: As per an Afghan ministry statement, the United Nations’ aid chief met with the Taliban administration’s acting minister of foreign affairs in Kabul on Monday. During the meeting, the UN official sought the Taliban leadership to take actions on concerns over women’s right to education and work.
Last month, NGOs in Afghanistan were asked by the Taliban-run administration not to permit nearly all female employees to work. This step led to many aid agencies to scale down or partially suspend were operations. At present, the landlocked country in the midst of a humanitarian crisis as a bitter winter has just started.
Martin Griffiths, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, raised the issue of how UN’s operations were impeded by bans on women’s education and work, stated a ministry of foreign affairs statement.
UN officials seek rollback on limits to Afghan women’s education, work
Regarding Griffiths’ visit to Afghanistan, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric maintained that the aid chief’s message would be same that UN has been saying from the beginning, that is, to rollback policies put in place of women.
Last week, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed had meetings with Taliban officials in the capital Kabul and the city of Kandahar, with the same message regarding restrictions on women from education and work.
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Meanwhile, Amir Khan Muttaqi, the acting Afghan Minister of Foreign Affairs, called on Griffiths to inform the global community the Taliban administration’s achievements like the general amnesty for former opponents instead of complaining and highlighting shortcomings.
