In a move that has drawn widespread condemnation, the Taliban has recently prohibited women from working in United Nations offices in Afghanistan, in addition to continuing to enforce discriminatory policies against women.
The Office of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) released a statement revealing that the Taliban informed them that “no women” from Afghanistan are allowed to work for the United Nations in the country, stating that “this measure will be actively enforced.”
This decision has prompted strong reactions from UN officials. Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, Roza Otunbayeva stated that “In the history of the United Nations, no other regime has ever tried to ban women from working for the Organization just because they are women.”
She added that this decision by the Taliban “represents an assault against women, the fundamental principles of the UN, and on international law.
Numerous countries and international organizations have also condemned this decision by the Taliban, and are demanding its immediate reversal.
On December 24, 2022, the Taliban announced a ban on women working in domestic and international organizations. However, following a visit by UN deputies Amina Mohammad and Martin Griffiths to Afghanistan and their talking with senior members of the Taliban, an exception was made for this ban in the United Nations offices.
Lack of Practical Action
Despite the widespread reactions against this decision made by the Taliban, no practical action has been considered against the Taliban for issuing such an order, in the statements from UN officials and countries around the world.
In the statement released by the Office of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, it is stated that “The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Roza Otunbayeva, is engaging the de facto authorities at the highest level possible to convey the Organization’s protest and to seek an immediate reversal of the order.”
The only practical action taken by the UN against this order was to instruct all its staff – men and women – not to report to the office until further notice.
In response to this decision, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken also did not issue any warnings against the Taliban or mention any practical measures against them for issuing such an order. He simply requested that “the Taliban prioritize the citizens of Afghanistan and reverse this decision.”
In the statements issued by countries and international organizations in response to the ban on women’s work in United Nations offices in Afghanistan, they have only “condemned” the Taliban’s order and expressed concern about the impact it may have on providing assistance to those in crisis in Afghanistan.
These statements do not mention any direct consequences of such orders for the Taliban group, such as imposing severe sanctions, or travel bans on their leaders and senior members, freezing their assets in various countries, closing their political office in Qatar, or cutting off the weekly transfer of forty million dollars to their central bank.
Onerous Consequences of Passive Approach to Taliban for the Women
Afghan women are criticizing the United Nations and the international community for their “passive” approach towards the Taliban, who have increased their immoderate orders and violation of human and women’s rights since taking control of Afghanistan.
The United Nations has been in contact with the Taliban group more than any other organization since they took control of Afghanistan. UN officials have held several meetings with senior Taliban members in Kabul and Kandahar, but these interactions have been criticized for their inability to curb the Taliban’s anti-human policies.
Afghan women, who have suffered directly from gender apartheid enforced by the Taliban group, have voiced their criticism of the passive approach of the United Nations and the international community towards the group. They believe that the consequences of such a passive approach toward the Taliban have been the continuation and spread of misogyny and gender apartheid policies, which have now reached the United Nations offices in Afghanistan.
Afghan women have taken to the streets, several times, to protest the United Nations’ policy towards the Taliban, accusing the organization of complicity with the extremist group. According to the women, the UN tends to recognize and whitewash the Taliban, leading to the complete exclusion of women from society and their subsequent imprisonment in their homes.
The Afghanistan Powerful Women’s Movement accused the United Nations of “colluding with a criminal group” following successive visits by UN officials to Afghanistan earlier this year and their meetings with senior members of the Taliban.
Afghanistan’s ambassador to Austria, Manizha Bakhtari, accused UNAMA, particularly Roza Otunbayeva and her deputy, Markus Potzel, of attempting to “whitewash” and “normalize” the Taliban, and mislead the global public opinion by issuing unfair reports. Bakhtari has stated that the UN officials are ignoring serious violations of human rights and crimes against humanity, and reducing them to cultural relativism; by doing this, they stand against the people of Afghanistan.
Recently, Afghan women protesting in the streets against the Taliban also chanted the slogan “UN, Break Your Silence,” criticizing the organization’s policy towards the extremist group.
Despite these criticisms and the Taliban’s continued misogynist policies, UN officials still emphasize interaction and dialogue with the Taliban, expressing their anger from the orders that even reached this organization through social media posts.
However, Afghan citizens, particularly women, expect the UN and the international community to stop appeasing and engaging with the Taliban and find ways to dismantle the group and put an end to their widespread and systematic violations of human rights by the Taliban.
Over the past twenty months, it has become clear that interacting with the Taliban does not lead to a change in their extremist approach or a commitment to human rights and democracy. Therefore, it is crucial for the international community to recognize the reality and stop engaging with and appeasing the Taliban once and for all.
