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UN Envoy Visits Afghanistan, Discusses Bans on Women

by Ayaz Gul

   ISLAMABAD --

   A top United Nations diplomat held talks with the foreign minister of
   the ruling Taliban in Afghanistan to convey international concern about
   restrictions they have placed on women's access to work, education and
   public life.

   Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, the highest-ranking woman in
   the world body, arrived overnight in the capital, Kabul, at the head of
   a high-level U.N. delegation.
   Her visit comes nearly a month after the Islamist Taliban tightened
   their already sweeping crackdown on Afghan women, ordering most female
   NGO staff to stop work until further notice and barring girls from
   attending universities. The latest curbs sparked global outrage and
   calls for immediately reversing them.

   Mohammed told Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in the meeting
   Wednesday that the purpose of her visit was aimed at "witnessing the
   situation up close" and delivering the international community's
   message about women's access to education and work, according to
   Taliban officials.

   Muttaqi in turn said there was a lack of cooperation from the
   international community to address concerns such as granting
   recognition to his government, and removing banking sector sanctions
   and those on Taliban leaders, saying they are causing problems for
   ordinary Afghans.

   "Traders are faced with extreme difficulties and they are unable to
   transfer funds to even import food items," he said in his remarks at
   the meeting, captured on camera and released by the Taliban.

   "If 1 million [girl] students are without education here, but what
   about those 9 million students, including boys and girls, who are going
   to schools?" Muttaqi asked. "They are also humans and need assistance
   to overcome issues facing them."

   The Taliban have banned teenage girls from attending school beyond
   grade six.

   "Women are engaged in educational and health sectors in significant
   numbers, whereas those who used to work in government offices are paid
   salaries at home; the number of female inmates has reduced
   considerably," Taliban foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi
   said in a statement that quoted Muttaqi as telling the U.N. delegation.

   The foreign minister recounted that his government had established
   peace in Afghanistan on its own returning to power and "narcotics
   cultivation has dropped to zero," noting the country used to be the
   biggest drug producer in the world before the Taliban takeover in
   August 2021.

   "Ms. Mohammed '¦ pledged to convey the realities as witnessed to the
   international community, taking firm steps for continued assistance to
   Afghanistan," Balkhi said.

   Muttaqi was also quoted as telling the U.N. team that the number of
   drug addicts in Afghanistan had risen to around four million before the
   Taliban takeover. "They are now being treated in 83 therapy centers"
   across the country, but these efforts have not been acknowledged by the
   world nor has there been any assistance in return for these efforts,
   the foreign minister said.

   Mohammed was in Kabul as part of a series of meetings that had included
   stops in Turkey, Qatar and Pakistan to discuss the situation in
   Afghanistan with diplomats, Afghan diaspora and the Organization of the
   Islamic Conference.

   "Clear consensus was evident on the issue of women and girls' rights to
   work and have access to education," the U.N. spokesman in New York said
   Tuesday, referring to Mohammed's meetings in the lead up to the Kabul
   visit.

   The Taliban have defended the ban on NGOs, claiming female workers were
   not adhering to Islamic dress codes and other Shariah principles in
   violation of official directives. The ban has prompted major foreign
   aid groups to suspend operations in Afghanistan, though some said this
   week they had resumed health and other programs where the Taliban have
   allowed women to work.

   The Taliban seized power 17 months ago when U.S.-led foreign troops
   withdrew from the country after 20 years of war with the then-insurgent
   Taliban.