UN reviewing presence in Afghanistan after female worker ban

Staff in the country have been asked to stay at home until early next month

Afghan women chant during a demonstration in Kabul. AP

The UN's mission in Afghanistan has said it would review its presence in the country after the Taliban banned its female staff from working.

The UN has asked all its staff in Afghanistan to stay at home until early next month after the Taliban, which has ruled since its takeover in 2021, forced it into what it called an "appalling choice" following the latest restrictions on women's rights.

"Through this ban, the Taliban de facto authorities seek to force the United Nations into having to make an appalling choice between staying and delivering in support of the Afghan people and standing by the norms and principles we are duty-bound to uphold," the UN said on Tuesday.

An operational review has been ordered until May 5.

"During this period, the UN in Afghanistan will conduct the necessary consultations, make required operational adjustments and accelerate contingency planning for all possible outcomes," it said.

"It should be clear that any negative consequences of this crisis for the Afghan people will be the responsibility of the de facto authorities."

The UN last week announced that the Taliban had said Afghan women would not be able to work for the global organisation, following a ban on women working in the charity sector.

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  Afghanistan's Taliban rulers have banned university education for women nationwide. AFP

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  Women were stopped by armed guards from entering Afghan university campuses, a day after the nation's Taliban rulers banned them from higher education. AFP

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  The move has provoked condemnation from the United States and the United Nations over another assault on human rights in the country. Reuters

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  Taliban security personnel stand guard at the entrance gate of a university in Jalalabad. AFP

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  Schoolgirls return home after sitting their high school graduation exams in Kabul. AFP

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  An Afghan female student leaves the Mirwais Neeka Institute of Higher Education in Kandahar. EPA

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  A curtain separates males and females at a university lecture in Kandahar Province. AFP

Taliban officials have yet to comment on the order.

Female UN staff in the eastern province of Nangarhar were stopped from reporting to work last week.

The UN labelled the ban "a violation of inalienable fundamental human rights of women" that will harm Afghans.

It has about 3,900 staff members in Afghanistan, including 3,300 Afghans and 600 international employees.

The Taliban has steadily pushed females out of public life, confirming fears it would severely repress women's freedom after returning to power.

Women are banned from schools, universities and public parks, cannot travel without a male relative and have been forced to cover up when outside of the home.

Many have protested over the restrictions and some have defied the Taliban by opening underground schools.