NEW YORK: The UN’s ambassador to Afghanistan said Wednesday that as long as restrictions against women’s rights persist in Afghanistan, it would be “nearly impossible” for the world to recognize the Taliban government in the country.
Curb on Women’s Rights a Key Hindrance to Taliban Govt. Recognition: UN
Roza Otunbayeva, head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, told the UN Security Council, “In my regular talks with Afghan authorities, I am dull regarding the hindrances they have created for themselves by the rulings and boundaries they have passed, especially against girls and women,”.
“Afghan Taliban ask to be recognized by the UN and its member states, but at the same time they (Taliban) act against the main values expressed in the UN Charter,” she added. Otunbayeva said, “We have conveyed to Taliban that as long as these rulings are in place it is about impossible that the Taliban government will be recognized by the world.”
The Taliban government in Afghanistan is not formally recognized by any international organization or country. Taliban officials have imposed a slew of limitations on Afghan women since taking power in 2021, including banning women and girls from higher education and government jobs.
In December, the Afghan interim government banned women from working for local and global non-governmental organizations (NGOs), AFP reported.
Such steps restricting women’s rights are “highly unpopular among people in Afghanistan,” she maintained, costing the Taliban officials “both local and global legitimacy, while inflicting suffering on half of their people and damaging their country’s economy.”
In April, the restraint on women working for international NGOs was extended to the United Nations offices across Afghanistan.
“We have been given no reasons and explanations by rulers for this ban and no assurances that the ban will be lifted,” Otunbayeva remarked.
“We will not put our local female staff in danger, and therefore we are asking them not to come to the office,” she added.
