UAE Ambassador to UN said the decision will further impede the provision of humanitarian relief in the country and affect the most vulnerable, including women, children, and the elderly, reports Asian Lite Newsdesk
UAE has expressed its strong condemnation of the decision by the Taliban to ban women from working in national and international non-governmental organisations in Afghanistan.
Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation for Political Affairs and Permanent Representative of the UAE to the United Nations, warned that at a time when two-thirds of Afghanistan’s population is in need of humanitarian assistance, and six million people are at risk of starvation, the decision will further impede the provision of humanitarian relief in the country and affect the most vulnerable, including women, children, and the elderly.
She underscored that the decision, which follows the Taliban’s recent and indefensible ban on women and girls accessing higher education, violates UN Security Council resolution 2615 and will undoubtedly exacerbate humanitarian suffering in Afghanistan.
Moreover, she stressed that Islam honours the role of women and upholds their rights. In this regard, Ambassador Nusseibeh underscored the importance of the full and equal participation of women and girls in all aspects of life.
The UAE will remain steadfast in its long-standing commitment to Afghanistan’s sovereignty, stability, security, and prosperity in cooperation with regional and international partners.
She concluded by emphasising that the future welfare of Afghanistan and its people depends on the full inclusion of women and girls in society.
On Saturday, the Taliban ordered all local and foreign NGOs to stop female employees from coming to work in the country. The Taliban ordered all national and international non-government organisations to suspend the jobs of female employees until further announcement.
This comes a few days after the Taliban ordered the closure of universities to female students across the country.
OIC, Qatar voice concerns
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Secretary-General Hissein Brahim Taha has expressed his “exacerbated concerns” over the Taliban’s order banning women from working in all local and foreign non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Afghanistan.
Taha described the ban on women’s work for national and international NGOs as “self-defeating” and “disserving the interests of Afghan people,” according to the tweet posted by OIC.
OIC in a tweet said, “The #OIC Secretary-General, H.E. Hissein Brahim Taha, expressed his exacerbated concerns over the reported ban, as the decision comes hard on the heels of the ban a few days earlier barring #Afghan women and #girls from accessing universities.” In a series of tweets, OIC Secretary-General Hissein Brahim Taha stressed that the decision shows a “wilful policy” by the Taliban to further affect Afghan women’s rights. Taha urged the Taliban to review its decision for the social inclusion of women and for the undisrupted continuation of humanitarian work in Afghanistan.
In another tweet, OIC stated, “H.E. Taha indicated that the move reflects a wilful policy by the de facto leadership apparently seeking to further impact Afghan women’s rights. He pointed out that this perplexing decision will not just deprive Afghan #women from a source of livelihood, it will seriously affect #humanitarian and relief operations conducted by a wide network of national and international non-governmental organizations in favour of vulnerable #Afghan communities.”
“The OIC Secretary-General qualified the ban on women’s work for national and international NGOs as self-defeating and disserving the interests of Afghan people, vigorously calling on the de facto authorities to revisit this decision for the sake of social inclusion of #women and the undisrupted continuation of the much-needed international #humanitarian safety net in #Afghanistan,” the OIC said in another tweet.
Earlier, Qatar expressed “deep concern” over the Taliban’s decision to ban female employees from working with non-governmental organisations. Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement called on the Taliban to review its decision to allow women to work in the various jobs available to them in the organisations.
Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed the need to “respect women’s right to work,” and emphasised that the freedom to choose and accept work is a “human right.” In the statement, Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs underscored that their stance is support all spectra of Afghanistan to obtain all their rights, including the right to work.
“The State of Qatar calls on the caretaker government to review its decision to enable women to work in the various jobs available to them in the organizations in a way that helps the distribution and flow of humanitarian aid to the Afghan people,” Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. (with inputs from ANI)
