UN: Taliban Ban Afghan Women Staff from Work

On Tuesday, the United Nations said that the Taliban has extended a ban on Afghan women working in non-governmental organizations to the UN mission in the country.

After the Taliban signaled the ban on Tuesday, the UN told some 3,300 of its staff in Afghanistan not to come to work for the next 48 hours.

Nearly 400 of them are female employees.

Stephane Dujarric, a spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said during a briefing at UN headquarters in New York that their female staff in Afghanistan had been given "a word of an order of the de facto authorities."

Dujarric mentioned that UN members would meet Taliban officials in Kabul on Wednesday "and seek some clarity."

Dujarric said UN members would meet Taliban officials in Kabul on Wednesday and "seek some clarity."

In December, the Taliban ordered all foreign and domestic NGOs to ban female employees from working.

The United Nations was an exception to this rule.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) noted that its female employees in Nangarhar province were prevented on Tuesday from coming to work.

Guterres explained that any such ban would be "unacceptable and frankly inconceivable," according to his spokesperson.

The Taliban seized power again in August 2021 after the withdrawal of international forces led by the United States from Afghanistan.

Since then, the Taliban have imposed a strict interpretation of Islam.

Teenage girls were barred from attending secondary schools, while women were barred from universities.