In a major setback to relief efforts in Afghanistan, the United Nations (UN) will limit its operations in the war-ravaged country, following the Taliban's ban on the UN's female staff.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reiterated its "unequivocal condemnation" of a decision by the Taliban to ban Afghan women from working for the UN in Afghanistan, it said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Taliban have not commented on the latest order.
The rift emerged last week when the Taliban showed strong opposition to the female staff of the UN, in the eastern Nangarhar province bordering Pakistan, after practically banning women and girls from working for non-government organisations last year.
"It is the latest in a series of discriminatory measures implemented by the Taliban de facto authorities with the goal of severely restricting women and girls' participation in most areas of public and daily life in Afghanistan," the UNAMA said.
It stressed the ban was unlawful under international law, including the UN Charter, and for that reason the United Nations cannot comply.
"Through this ban, the Taliban authorities seek to force the United Nations into having to make an appalling choice between staying and delivering support of the Afghan people, and standing by the norms and principles we are duty-bound to uphold," read the statement.
The UN has warned that it should be clear that any negative consequences of this crisis for the Afghan people will be the responsibility of the de facto authorities.
Six million people a step away from famine
Under these circumstances, Roza Otunbayeva, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan and head of the UNAMA, has initiated an operational review period up to 5 May.
The latest blow to relief efforts comes as aid agencies warned about the drastic drop in funds from donor countries to keep life going in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan has only received around 5 per cent of the aid committed to it, according to the UN's own conservative estimates.
The country is in need of $US4.6 billion to lift its population out of dire poverty, but it has only received around $US2.5 million in funds.
More worrying, the health sector is estimated to require around $US145 million to save the country's population from disease, but it has only been funded with about $US4.6 million.
The humanitarian needs in Afghanistan remain at an all-time high as the country reels from a third consecutive year of drought-like conditions and a second year of crippling economic decline.
Last week, The World Food Programme appealed for urgent funding for its operations in the country, where families are battling crisis after crisis since the Taliban takeover of 2021.
Catastrophic hunger could become widespread across Afghanistan, and unless humanitarian support is sustained, hundreds of thousands more people will need assistance to survive, the agency said in an alert.
The WFP said it urgently needed $US93 million to assist 13 million people in April and $US800 million for the next six months.
With the Taliban takeover and subsequent restrictions imposed on Afghanistan's banking system, nine out of 10 Afghan families cannot afford enough food.
Nearly 20 million Afghans do not know where their next meal will come from, and six million of them are one step away from famine.
Taliban spread 'gender-apartheid' policies
Since taking charge in Kabul, the Taliban have severely restricted the role of women in an Afghan society that has been described by former Afghan president Ashraf Ghani as "gender-apartheid".
Commenting on the latest ban on women working for the UN, the Taliban-run Ministry of Economy spokesman, Abdul Rahman Habib told the local Salam Watandar Radio that the issue was only in Nangarhar.
"In other provinces, there is no obstacle for the work of UN female employees, and the UN should help more in this bad economic situation of the Afghan people," he said.
Referring to these restrictions, the UN noted that the latest ban, an extension of the already unacceptable restrictions placed in December 2022 on NGO partners at the frontline of aid delivery, deliberately discriminates against women and challenges the ability of the people of Afghanistan to continue accessing lifesaving and sustaining assistance and services.
UNAMA added that as a result it breaches human rights and humanitarian principles.
ABC/Reuters
