A senior U.N. official in Afghanistan met the deputy prime minister of the Taliban-led government to discuss a ban on women working for non-governmental groups.
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.
Potzel is the latest U.N. official to meet the Taliban’s leadership amid mounting international concern over the curtailing of women’s freedoms in Afghanistan. Hanif issued the NGO ban on Dec. 24, allegedly because women weren’t wearing the Islamic headscarf, or hijab, correctly. He said any organization found not complying with the order will have its license revoked.
The Taliban takeover in 2021, as U.S. and NATO forces were in the final weeks of their pullout after 20 years of war, sent Afghanistan’s economy into a tailspin and transformed the country, driving millions into poverty and hunger. Foreign aid stopped almost overnight.
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