UN: Women's ban from aid work exposes 28 million Afghans to suffering
Afghan women chant slogans to protest against the ban on university education for women, in Kabul on December 22, 2022. On Saturday, Taliban rulers ordered all NGOs to stop women staff from working in Afghanistan.
What you need to know:
- Taliban’s order banned women in Afghanistan from working in the humanitarian sector.
- Afghanistan is so far the worst country for existence of women-their liberties are most denied, from education to healthcare.
- The country comes last in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index rankings for 2022.
Some 28 million Afghans will suffer untold hardship following Taliban’s order banning women in Afghanistan from working in the humanitarian sector, the spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary-General has said.
In a statement, Stéphane Dujarric, said the decision would undermine the work of national and international non-governmental organisations helping the most vulnerable, especially women and girls.
“The United Nations and its partners, including national and international non-governmental organisations, are helping more than 28 million Afghans who depend on humanitarian aid to survive,” he said.
He said effective delivery of humanitarian assistance requires full, safe and unhindered access for all aid workers, including women.
“The reported ban on women working with the international community to save lives and livelihoods in Afghanistan will cause further untold hardship on the people of Afghanistan,” said Mr Dujarric.
Afghanistan is so far the worst country for existence of women-their liberties are most denied, from education to healthcare. The country comes last in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index rankings for 2022.
Gender gaps
Of the 146 countries assessed on progress made in achieving gender parity in economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment, the country recorded the least score 0.435.
Worst still, while other countries improved their scores from the previous year, for Afghanistan it dropped further by 0.009, an indication of just how bad things are for the women in this Muslim country.
The women, girls and widows’ rights to access to justice, freedom of movement, reproductive autonomy and inheritance are restricted, WEE report shows.
Here, lifetime prevalence of gender based violence among women is 60.80 per cent. The maternal mortality rates are also high at 638.00 per 100,000 live births
