On Wednesday, the United Nations envoy to Afghanistan warned that Taliban’s crackdown on women's rights is likely to lead to a decline in aid and development financing in the country.
Roza Otunbayeva said the UN made the largest aid appeal ever for one country, requesting $4.6 billion in 2023 to assist in Afghanistan, where two-thirds of the population.
However, she told the UN Security Council that the provision of such aid is at risk if the Taliban government bans girls from going to secondary schools and universities, and prevents girls and women from going to gardens.
The government also bans women from working with aid groups, and they are not allowed to leave the house without a male relative and they must cover their faces.
“Funding to Afghanistan is likely to decrease if women are not allowed to work,” Otunbayeva said. “If the amount of aid is reduced, the amount of US dollar cash transfers required to support that assistance will also decrease.”
According to her, discussions about providing more development assistance, such as small infrastructure projects or policies to combat the effects of climate change have stalled because of the ban.
The US was the largest donor to the 2022 UN aid plan for Afghanistan, providing more than $1 billion.
Taliban, which seized power in August 2021 as US-led forces withdraw from Afghanistan after 20 years of war, says it respects women's rights according to its strict interpretation of Islamic law.
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