The UN Assistant Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) released a statement saying “UN protests order from de facto authorities prohibiting Afghan women from working with the United Nations in Afghanistan." 

“The UN has been notified by the de facto authorities that, with immediate effect, no Afghan woman is permitted to work for the UN in Afghanistan, and that this measure will be actively enforced,” the statement reads. “This decision extends the directive previously announced on 24 December 2022, banning Afghan women working for national and international non-governmental organizations.”

The statement reads that several UN national female personnel have already experienced restrictions on their movements, including harassment, intimidation, and detention.

“The UN has therefore instructed all national staff – men and women – not to report to the office until further notice,” the statement said.

The ban is unlawful under international law and cannot be accepted by the United Nations, UNAMA said.

“It constitutes an unparalleled violation of women’s rights, a flagrant breach of humanitarian principles, and a breach of international rules on the privileges and immunities of the United Nations, including those extended to all UN personnel,” the statement reads.

According to the statement, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Roza Otunbayeva, is engaging the “de facto authorities” at the highest level possible to convey the organization’s protest and to seek an immediate reversal of the order.

The UN is also engaging with member states, the donor community, and humanitarian partners, the statement said.

The statement also underscored the severe humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, saying that the order will further impact the international community’s engagement with Afghanistan, and the UN’s ability to support the population as they experience an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.

“Two-thirds of the Afghan population – some 28.3 million people – require life-saving assistance to survive, including 20 million people who are food insecure, six million of whom are one step away from famine,” it said.

The UN said the order will also further negatively affect humanitarian partners’ ability to reach those most vulnerable, especially women and girls.

“In the history of the United Nations, no other regime has ever tried to ban women from working for the organization just because they are women. This decision represents an assault against women, the fundamental principles of the UN, and on international law,” said Otunbayeva as quoted in the statement.

"Female Afghan staff members are officials of the United Nations, whose privileges and immunities are enshrined in international law, the statement added, citing that “they must be allowed to move freely throughout Afghanistan to independently exercise their functions without any hindrance,” the statement said.