UN may withdraw from Afghanistan if talks fail with Taliban on this issue | CPT PPP Coverage

The United Nations (UN) said that it is ready to withdraw from Afghanistan if it cannot convince the Taliban to permit local women to work for the organization, head of the UN Development Program said as per news agency Associated Press.

The decision may be taken as soon as next month as the UN is negotiating with the Taliban on the decree prohibiting local women from working.

UNDP Administrator Achin Steiner said, “It is fair to say that where we are right now is the entire United Nations system having to take a step back and re-evaluate its ability to operate there. But it is not about negotiating fundamental principles, human rights.”

Expressing “serious concerns”, the UN has condemned Taliban’s ban on Afghan female UN staff members from reporting to work. “The United Nations in Afghanistan expresses serious concern that female national UN staff have been prevented from reporting to work in Nangarhar province,” the UN had then said, adding that life-saving aid in the country would be at risk without female staff.

“We remind de facto authorities that United Nations entities cannot operate and deliver life-saving assistance without female staff,” the UN said.

The Talibancame to power in Afghanistan in August 2021 after US troop withdrawal. It has since imposed severe bans on women and girls, preventing them from education as well as work.