The UN will leave Afghanistan if the Taliban do not allow local female employees to work

The United Nations is ready to make the “heartbreaking” decision to leave Afghanistan in May if it does not convince the Taliban to allow local female staff to work, The Guardian reports quoting UN representatives.

As the newspaper reminds, in December the Taliban adopted an uncompromising decree banning women fr om working and limiting their access to education. As a result, the US government and other G7 countries have threatened to cut financial assistance to the country wh ere, an estimated two-thirds of the population, or 28 million people, especially women and children, are in dire need of humanitarian assistance in 2023.

United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Administrator Achim Steiner points out that UN officials spent months negotiating and trying to convince the group's leadership to make an exception for their female employees, but the Taliban refused to change their position.

In this humanitarian organization, women make up about a third of the staff hired from local residents. They are also the ones most affected by any cuts in financial aid. Since the Taliban banned Afghan UN staff from work on April 12, all 3,300 Afghans employed by the agency, numbering 2,700 men and 600 women, are working from home. They will receive their salaries, the organization said. At the same time, the decree does not apply to the remaining 600 employees from other countries, including 200 women.