Women’s rights concerns raised with Taliban –U.N.

STORY: Speaking at a United Nations press briefing after a visit to Kabul, U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths said that following his recent discussions with the Taliban authorities, they would create a set of written guidelines to allow aid groups to operate with female staff in more areas with certainty in coming weeks.

Last month, the Taliban authorities - who seized power in August 2021 - banned most female aid workers and stopped women from attending university after stopping girls from attending high school in March. Griffiths traveled to Afghanistan after a visit last week by U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed.

Griffiths said some exemptions to the female aid worker ban had been granted in health and education and that there were indications there could be a possible exemption in agriculture. But he said much more was needed, with nutrition and water and sanitation services a priority to prevent severe illnesses and malnutrition during a severe humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.

Griffiths said the United Nations would continue operating in Afghanistan wherever it could, but there was a concern that international donors might not want to commit to the huge financial cost of aid at around $4.6 billion a year.