Taliban's Ban on Women Forces UN Staff to Stay Home in Afghanistan

The United Nations has instructed all of its personnel in Afghanistan to stay away from its offices in the country, after the Taliban banned Afghan women from working with the organization. The ban is an extension of a previous ban, enforced last December, that prohibited Afghan women from working for national and international non-governmental organizations. The UN is assessing the scope, parameters, and consequences of the ban and will pause activities where impeded. The Taliban's decision is an "unparalleled violation of human rights," according to the UN Deputy Special Representative, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan.