UNAMA calls on Taliban to end restrictions on women’s rights

The United Nations mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, has called on the Taliban to end the restrictions imposed on women.

In a statement released on its website on International Women’s Day, the mission urged the de facto authorities in Afghanistan to lift the constraints on women and girls, warning that failure to do so could push the country further into poverty and isolation.

The Special Representative of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women in Afghanistan, stated that the space available for Afghan women and girls continues to shrink at an alarming rate, posing a risk to Afghanistan’s future prospects of breaking free from the cycle of war, poverty, and isolation.

The UN mission pointed out that since taking power in August 2021, the Taliban has imposed restrictions on the most basic rights and freedoms of most women and girls, including preventing them from accessing secondary and higher education, restricting their access to work, and limiting their freedom of movement outside the home.