UN official meets Taliban deputy prime minister over women NGO ban
- Markus Potzel, deputy head of UN Mission in Afghanistan, in Kabul to discuss the ban, as well as other measures curtailing women’s rights in the country
- UN survey shows a third of NGOs headed by women in Afghanistan have been forced to stop 70 per cent of their activities due to the ban
The decision by the Taliban government to bar women from NGO work has prompted major international aid agencies to suspend operations in the country. The ban has raised fears that people will be deprived of food, education, healthcare and other critical services, as over half of Afghanistan’s population needs urgent humanitarian assistance.
Aid agencies have warned the ban will have catastrophic consequences and “hundreds and thousands” of Afghans will die because of the Taliban decision.
The deputy head of the UN Mission in Afghanistan, Markus Potzel, met Maulvi Abdul Salam Hanafi in the capital Kabul to discuss the ban, as well as other measures including barring women from universities.
“Banning women from working in non-governmental organisations, denying girls and women from education and training, harms millions of people in Afghanistan and prevents the delivery of vital aid to Afghan men, women, and children,” the UN mission said.
Potzel is the latest UN official to meet the Taliban’s leadership amid mounting international concern over the curtailing of women’s freedoms in Afghanistan.
Last Monday, the acting head of the UN mission Ramiz Alakbarov met Economy Minister Qari Din Mohammed Hanif.
