Upon his arrival at the Foreign Affairs Council in its ‘Development’ configuration on Thursday, 4 May, the European Union’s High Representative Josep Borrell once again spoke on the situation in Afghanistan, lamenting the Taliban’s recent decision to ban Afghan women and girls from working with United Nations agencies in the country. This decision follows a previous announcement banning women from working for NGOs.
“This is very grave because the United Nations is [...] the most important partner in delivering basic needs assistance and humanitarian support to the Afghan people”, he explained.
He made the following reference to the outcome of the UN Conference on Afghanistan, in Doha earlier this week, and the letter received from the Afghan foreign minister: “We [the United Nations] will study the result of the United Nations’ Conference on Afghanistan. [...] I will share [the letter] with the ministers and see what we can do in order to continue supporting the Afghan people in spite [of] all the difficulties and all the decisions that the Taliban are taking”.
As Afghanistan continues to face one of the greatest humanitarian crises in the world—with 28 million people in need, including 6 million on the brink of starvation—in 2023, the EU has reaffirmed its commitment [to the Afghan people] and is providing humanitarian aid and support for basic needs “within a principled approach” where “women [can] meaningfully participate in aid and services delivery [...] as well as remain beneficiaries of aid”. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)