Source: United Nations (video statements)
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan Roza Isakovna Otunbayeva today (17 Sep) told the Security Council that as United Nations agencies “were ramping up their support for earthquake victims,” Taliban authorities “have blocked access for female national staff to UN field office premises around the country,” and said “this serious restriction hinders the UN’s ability to help the Afghan people at their moment of great need.”
Otunbayeva welcomed support from International Financial Institutions (IFIs) such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, but said, “IFI-funded projects must be implemented through UN agencies, and their impact has been reduced by the enforcement of bans against female national staff, and the wider ban on women working, which has created unacceptable discrimination.”
She said, “we have issued a statement calling for the lifting of this ban and its enforcement, and I urge the Security Council to echo our call.”