Three months on, Afghan women UN staff still barred from entering offices nationwide

It has now been three months since Afghanistan’s authorities imposed a nationwide ban preventing Afghan women staff and contractors from entering United Nations premises — a restriction the UN says continues to endanger critical humanitarian operations.

Despite being unable to access UN offices for 91 days, Afghan women personnel have continued their work remotely and within communities, delivering essential assistance to millions of people. Their efforts have supported families affected by recent earthquakes in eastern and northern Afghanistan, helped thousands of returnees arriving from Pakistan and Iran, and ensured vulnerable communities continue to receive food, clean water, healthcare, shelter, livelihood support, and climate-resilience assistance.

The UN warns that the longer the restrictions persist, the greater the threat to life-saving services across the country.

“Afghan women are indispensable to the United Nations’ work in Afghanistan,” the statement said, noting that women staff are essential to safely reaching Afghan women and girls and providing culturally appropriate support. “Assistance must be delivered by women, to women.”

The UN reiterated its strong opposition to the ban, calling it a violation of the organisation’s founding principles on equality and human rights, and stressing that it undermines its ability to fulfil its mandate in Afghanistan.

In response to the ongoing restrictions, UN agencies, funds and programmes have implemented additional interim operational adjustments and continue to evaluate feasible ways to sustain their principled humanitarian activities.

The United Nations again urged the Islamic Emirate to reverse the ban and ensure the safe, unrestricted access of Afghan women staff and contractors to UN offices and field locations — a necessary step, it said, to ensure aid reaches the women and girls who need it most.