The United Nations said on Thursday it would not stop providing help to Afghanistan despite the Taliban ban on women working in the country’s aid sector.
“Let me make it very clear that the United Nations and humanitarian partners are very committed to the delivery of life-saving services to the people of Afghanistan,” the UN Resident Coordinator in Afghan istan, Ramiz Alakbarov, told reporters.
Speaking after the G7 issued a statement calling the hardline Islamists’ action “reckless and dangerous,” Alakbarov said Afghanistan’s humanitarian needs are “absolutely enormous.”
“We do not believe that it is possible to deliver comprehensive humanitarian action without the participation of women,” he said.
However, he added, “It’s important that we continue to stay and deliver.”
“Aid is never conditional. You cannot condition providing food or health assistance to a starving person, or a dying person.”
