UN News Center says Ramiz Alakbarov, UN Resident Coordinator for Afghanistan, briefed reporters at the UN headquarters in New York, on December 29, 2022.
He, in particular, noted that the UN relief chief – along with other senior officials – would be heading to the country in the coming days in search of a solution to the crisis over women's participation in relief work and access to education.
"Humanitarian needs of the (Afghan) people are absolutely enormous, and it's important that we continue to stay and deliver," Mr. Alakbarov told a press briefing.
At the same time, he said “certain activities” had already been paused, reiterating that the UN system was fully "committed to the people" of Afghanistan and to full gender equality.
Taliban leaders are being engaged already at the "highest possible level" by UN leadership on the ground there, and Mr. Alakbarov stated that an agreement had already been struck with Taliban leadership in the health sector, so that there will be "no barrier" to women continuing with their lifesaving work there.
He emphasized that delivery of health services and other vital aid, would not be possible without women staff members, and it was "practically impossible" to launch any new programs without female participation.
With more than 28 million Afghans in need, "we need to dissolve bottlenecks to address needs as systematically as we can", he added.
It is essential to explain the consequences of the Taliban's restrictions on women and girls to their leadership, "and work on the solution". He highlighted that it would be impossible, for example, to offer protection services to women, without women on staff, or reach millions of women in need, using only male workers. The United Nations and its humanitarian partners are committed to delivery of life-saving services to the people of Afghanistan despite the Taliban-run administration's decision to ban women from working in humanitarian non-governmental organizations, the UN envoy for Afghanistan said yesterday.
