In the middle of a deepening crisis, the most senior UN delegation to visit Afghanistan since the Taliban swept to power in 2021 has flown into Kabul.
Afghanistan, a country where women are barred from universities, secondary schools, and many workplaces, the world’s biggest aid operation, is now at risk of failing those who desperately need it. That, too, in the depths of winter when starvation and frostbite are ripping at the door.
The UN secretary general dispatched his deputy, Amina Mohammad, the UN’s most senior woman, with a team that also included the head of UN Women, Sima Bahous.
They’ve been tasked with speaking to senior Taliban leaders at the highest-possible level about reversing restrictions, including a new ban on female aid workers, that has endangered urgent life-saving humanitarian operations.