Afghanistan: A UN spokesman has stated that the Taliban have issued an order to ban Afghan women employees of the United Nations staff from working throughout Afghanistan.

Mr. Stephane Dujarric said this was the latest in a “disturbing trend” undermining the ability of aid organisations to work in Afghanistan, where some 23 million people, more than half the country’s population, need help.

“UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres would view any ban on Afghan women working for the United Nations in their country as unacceptable and, frankly, inconceivable,” Mr. Dujarric noted.

“We’re still looking into how this development would affect our operations in the country, and we are expecting to have more meetings with the de facto authorities tomorrow in Kabul. We are trying to seek some clarity. We do not have anything in writing as of now,” the UN spokesman added.

The United Nations Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA) earlier reported 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,” the UN mission stated in a tweet.

Since toppling the Western-backed government in Kabul, the Taliban have tightened controls over women’s access to public life, including barring women from university and closing most girls’ high schools.

In December 2022, Taliban authorities stopped most female NGO employees from working, which aid workers have said has made it more difficult to reach female beneficiaries and could lead donors to hold back funding.

WORLD ROUNDUP: Musk predicts social media network failure without payment-based verification