UN Security Council to discuss Taliban ban on female aid workers

Private meeting scheduled for next week requested by the UAE and Japan

The UAE's ambassador to the UN said the decision will further impede the provision of aid in the country and affect the most vulnerable in society. AFP

The UN Security Council is expected to meet privately next week to discuss the recent decision by Afghanistan's Taliban to ban female aid workers.

The meeting, which will also examine the ongoing the humanitarian crisis in the country, was requested by the UAE and Japan and is scheduled for January 13.

Lana Nusseibeh, the UAE's ambassador to the UN, expressed her country's strong condemnation of the decision to ban women from working in non-governmental organisations in Afghanistan.

She emphasised that the decision, which follows the Taliban’s ban on women and girls pursuing higher education, is a breach of UN Security Council Resolution 2615 and will “exacerbate” human suffering in the country.

Ms Nusseibeh warned that, at a time when two thirds of Afghanistan’s population is in need of humanitarian assistance, the decision will further impede the provision of aid in the country and affect the most vulnerable in society.

The ban on female aid workers was announced by the Taliban administration on December 24.

Afghan women and girls have been virtually excluded from public life, forced to cover their faces and travel long distances only with a male relative. They have even been barred from amusement parks.

Martin Griffiths, the UN's aid chief, is scheduled to visit Afghanistan in the coming weeks and will seek to hold high-level meetings with the Taliban.