UN says Taliban divided on appeal to restore women's rights

A delegation led by the highestranking woman at the United Nations urged the Taliban during a fourday visit to Afghanistan that ended Friday to reverse their crackdown on women and girls Some Taliban officials were more open to restoring womens rights but others were clearly opposed a UN spokesman saidThe UN team met with the Taliban in the capital of Kabul and the southern city of Kandahar It did not release the names of any of the Taliban officials The meetings focused on the restrictive measures the Taliban have imposed on women and girls since they took power in August 2021 during the final weeks of the US and NATO forces pullout after 20 years of warThe team headed by UN Deputy SecretaryGeneral Amina Mohammed found that some Taliban officials have been cooperative and theyve received some signs of progress said UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq The key thing is to reconcile the Taliban officials that theyve met whove been more helpful with those who have notAlso Read Kabuls mannequins hooded and masked under Taliban rulesHaq stressed that there are many different points of authority among the Taliban and that the UN team will try to get them to work together to advance the goals that we want which include most crucially bringing women and girls back to the full enjoyment of their rightsMohammed a former Nigerian Cabinet minister and a Muslim was joined on the trip by Sima Bahous executive director of UN Women which promotes gender equality and womens rights and Assistant Secretary General for political affairs Khaled KhiariAs the Taliban did during their previous rule of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 they gradually reimposed their harsh interpretation of Islamic law or Sharia Girls have been barred from school beyond the sixth grade and women are banned from most jobs public spaces and gymsIn late December the Taliban barred aid groups from employing women paralysing deliveries that help keep millions of Afghans alive and threatening humanitarian services countrywide In addition thousands of women who work for aid organisations across the warbattered country are facing the loss of income they desperately need to feed their own familiesLimited work by women has been allowed in some sectors including the health field What weve seen in terms of basic rights for women and girls is a huge step backwards Haq said We are trying to do more and well continue on that frontIn a statement Mohammed said her message to the Taliban was very clear these restrictions present Afghan women and girls with a future that confines them in their own homes violating their rights and depriving the communities of their services She stressed that delivery of humanitarian aid is based on the principle requiring unhindered and safe access for all aid workers including womenOur collective ambition is for a prosperous Afghanistan that is at peace with itself and its neighbours and on a path to sustainable development But right now Afghanistan is isolating itself in the midst of a terrible humanitarian crisis and one of the most vulnerable nations on earth to climate change she said During the trip that also included a visit to western Herat Mohammeds team also met humanitarian workers civil society representatives and women in the three citiesAfghan women left us no doubt of their courage and refusal to be erased from public life Bahous of UN Women said in a statement They will continue to advocate and fight for their rights and we are dutybound to support them in doing so What is happening in Afghanistan is a grave womens rights crisis and a wakeup call for the international community she said stressing that the Taliban restrictions and edicts show how quickly decades of progress on womenacutes rights can be reversed in a matter of daysBefore arriving in Kabul members of the delegation visited Muslim countries in the Middle East as well as Indonesia Pakistan and Turkey They met leaders of the 57nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference the Islamic Development Bank and groups of Afghan women in Ankara Turkey and Islamabad as well as a group of ambassadors and special envoys to Afghanistan based in Doha the capital of Qatar The need for a revitalised and realistic political pathway was consistently highlighted and all remained firm on the fundamental principles including womens and girls rights to education work and public life in Afghanistan the UN saidHaq apologised for a photo on social media of seven men from the UN delegations security team posing in front of a Taliban flag calling it a mistake and a significant lapse of judgment No country has recognised the Taliban and Afghanistans seat at the United Nations is still held by the previous government headed by Ashraf Ghani The UN refers to the Taliban as the countrys de facto authoritiesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever