UN to withdraw from Afghanistan if talks with Taliban over curbs on women fail

The United Nations (UN) has said that it may withdraw from Afghanistan if it cannot convince the Taliban to permit women to work for the organization, the head of the UN Development Program said.

The decision will likely be taken as soon as next month even as negotiations are going on with the Taliban with regard to banning local women from working.

UNDP Administrator Achin Steiner said, "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. But it is not about negotiating fundamental principles, human rights."

“I think there is no other way of putting it than heartbreaking,” Steiner said in an April 17th’s interview. “I mean, if I were to imagine the UN family not being in Afghanistan today, I have before me these images of millions of young girls, young boys, fathers, mothers, who essentially will not have enough to eat.”

The UN had earlier condemned the Taliban's ban on Afghan women from working in NGOs including the UN.

“The United Nations in Afghanistan expresses serious concern that female national UN staff have been prevented from reporting to work in Nangarhar province,” the UN had then said, adding that life-saving aid in the country would be at risk without female staff.

"We remind de facto authorities that United Nations entities cannot operate and deliver life-saving assistance without female staff," the UN said.

The Taliban had also banned female students from universities. The UN condemned the move terming it a violation of fundamental rights.

The Taliban came to power in Afghanistan in August 2021 after the US troop withdrawal. It has since imposed severe bans on women and girls, preventing them from education as well as work.