The United Nations told some 3,300 Afghan staff not to come to work in Afghanistan for the next two days after the Taliban authorities signaled on Tuesday that they would enforce a ban on Afghan women working for the world body.
U.N. officials in Afghanistan "received word of an order by the de facto authorities that bans female national staff members of the United Nations from working," U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York.
The U.N. mission in Afghanistan earlier on Tuesday expressed concern that female staff in the eastern province of Nangarhar had been stopped from reporting to work. The Taliban administration and the Afghan information ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the ban enforcement in Nangarhar, posting on Twitter: "If this measure is not reversed, it will inevitably undermine our ability to deliver life-saving aid to the people who need it."
A ban on Afghan female U.N. workers could pose major challenges to continued U.N. operations in Afghanistan. The founding U.N. Charter states that no restrictions be placed on the eligibility of men and women to work for the U.N.
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