UN to Leave Afghanistan in May Following Stricter Taliban Rules

The U.N. says that if it cannot convince the Taliban to permit local women to work for the organization, it is ready to make the “heartbreaking” decision to withdraw from Afghanistan.

The United Nations is ready to take the “heartbreaking” decision to pull out of Afghanistan in May if it cannot persuade the Taliban to allow Afghan female aid workers for the organization, the head of the U.N. Development Program said on Tuesday.

The U.N. representatives are negotiating with the Taliban authorities in the hopes that it will make exceptions to a decree this month prohibiting local women from working for the organization, said Achin Steiner, UNDP Administrator, reported by Associate Press.

“It is fair to say that where we are right now is the entire United Nations system having to take a step back and re-evaluate its ability to operate there,” Mr Steiner said. “But it is not about negotiating fundamental principles, human rights.”

Earlier this month, the U.N. local female aid workers were banned while the Taliban authorities reacted to the organization’s decision, referring to it as an “internal issue.”

Since the Taliban takeover of the country in August 2021, the group has issued a more suppressive policy regarding women and girls, depriving women of all their fundamental rights, said the organization on Women’s Day.

The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan described the Taliban’s move as a “cruel blow to Afghan women’s rights”. It said that the Taliban had broken its promises to maintain girls’ schools open beyond the sixth grade.

Mr Steiner added that Afghanistan is in a dire humanitarian crisis, and the organization’s presence is needed more. However, the U.N. has decided that human rights are non-negotiable, and it will leave in May if the Taliban do not relent.

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