On International Women’s Day, the United Nations in Afghanistan on Wednesday renewed its call on the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) to halt and reverse restrictions on the fundamental rights of women and girls.

UNAMA said in a statement that these restrictions are at odds with human rights obligations set forth in instruments concerning human rights and fundamental freedoms to which Afghanistan is a State party and by which it is bound, and damages Afghanistan’s prospects of recovering from decades of war.

“Afghanistan under the Taliban (IEA) remains the most repressive country in the world regarding women’s rights, and it has been distressing to witness their methodical, deliberate, and systematic efforts to push Afghan women and girls out of the public sphere,” said Roza Otunbayeva, UN’s special envoy for Afghanistan and head of UNAMA.

“Confining half of the country’s population to their homes in one of the world’s largest humanitarian and economic crises is a colossal act of national self-harm. It will condemn not only women and girls, but all Afghans, to poverty and aid-dependency for generations to come. It will further isolate Afghanistan from its own citizens and from the rest of the world,” Otunbayeva said.

In 2023, 13.8 million Afghan women and girls are in need of humanitarian assistance – yet the IEA authorities have undermined the unprecedented international aid effort by also banning women working in non-governmental organizations, even though they are crucial to the delivery of life-saving help, UNAMA said.

Meanwhile, special envoys for Afghanistan from several Western governments and the European Union said in a joint statement on March 7 that they had “grave concerns” about the deterioration of the humanitarian and economic situation in the IEA-led country. In the statement, the envoys from Australia, Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, Britain, and the United States called for the immediate reversal of the “unacceptable bans” targeting women and said they are preventing humanitarian assistance from reaching Afghans most in need.

In an interview with VOA, Rina Amiri, US special envoy for Afghan women, said that the international community has “made it clear to the Taliban (IEA) that … if they do not restore the rights of women and girls … there’s going to be no progress in terms of further normalization on any of the issues with which the Taliban (IEA) seeks to make progress.”

However, the Islamic Emirate says it is committed to respecting women’s rights within the framework of Sharia law and does not accept interference in Afghanistan’s internal affairs.

“The Islamic Emirate regulates the internal affairs of its country in a good manner and according to the supreme interests of the country and its Islamic values and according to the beliefs of the people of Afghanistan. It is better for external sides to fulfill their responsibilities and obligations. The fact that the people of Afghanistan are suffering from the outside and getting hurt should be resolved,” said Bilal Karimi, deputy spokesperson of the IEA.