Funding for projects in Afghanistan may be reduced due to the oppression of women in the country. Roza Otunbayeva, UN Special Representative and head of the UN’s Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, spoke about this at a meeting of the Security Council on Afghanistan, UN News reports.
The United Nations has made its biggest call for aid to Afghanistan, asking for $4.6 billion in 2023, she said. Two-thirds of the population in the country — about 28 million people — need it to survive.
«At a moment when the country needs all of its human capital to recover from decades of war, half of its potential doctors, scientists, journalists, and politicians are shut away in their homes, their dreams crushed, and their talents confiscated,» Roza Otunbayeva said.
Bans across Afghanistan are currently in effect against women working, studying and travelling without male companions.
She noted that the ban on women working in non-governmental organizations would have very serious consequences for the Afghan population in need of help and support, and the relationship between the Taliban and the international community.
«Funding for projects in Afghanistan is likely to decline if women are not allowed to work. The NGOs they run have been forced to close down. If the volume of assistance to the population decreases, then the amount of remittances in dollars required to provide this support will also decrease,» the UN Special Representative said.
She added that the Taliban are trying to prevent UN female employees from going to work. «We have already witnessed the efforts of the Taliban to prevent Afghan women from going to UN offices in five provinces,» Roza Otunbayeva told.
