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UNHCR deploys international female staff in Kabul amid restrictions on Afghan women workers
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has deployed international female staff to its encashment centre in Kabul after Afghan women staff were barred from working under instructions from the Islamic Emirate.
UNHCR said it had suspended activities on September 9 at all encashment centres across Afghanistan, stressing that it is not possible to interview and register returnees without female staff. More than half of returnees are women, and over 30 percent are female heads of households, making their participation in the process essential.
The agency noted that the deployment of international female staff was an exceptional and temporary measure to ease the humanitarian crisis, with many women and children waiting days for assistance. It underlined that this arrangement is not sustainable and that discussions are ongoing with the authorities to allow Afghan female staff to return.
UNHCR emphasized that the long-term solution must enable women returnees to be supported by national female staff, in line with cultural and religious norms.