“I strongly support UNAMA’s call for Taliban to lift restrictions and bans on female employees,” Bennett

KABUL: Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Afghanistan, has strongly supported UNAMA’s call for the Taliban to lift restrictions and bans on female employees. Bennett stated on his X account that the Taliban’s closure of women’s workplaces and prevention of their assistance to necessary communities indicate that their policy should not be normalized until they change their approach. This comes as UNAMA announced that the Taliban prevented female employees and contractors from accessing the organization’s offices in Kabul on September 7. In a statement, UNAMA noted that Taliban forces were stationed at the entrances of UN buildings in Kabul, Herat, and Mazar-i-Sharif to enforce the ban on female employees entering UN offices. UNAMA also reported that security forces are attempting to restrict female workers from traveling to operational sites, which include centers for assisting women and girls in earthquake-affected areas, as well as welcoming returning Afghan refugees from Iran and Pakistan. In response to this action by the Taliban, UNAMA announced that it has implemented a series of temporary adjustments to safeguard its personnel in all UN agencies and programs, ensuring the continuation of essential and principled work. Additionally, on Thursday, September 11, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) issued a statement announcing the suspension of its activities in centers for returning Afghans in various provinces of Afghanistan.