Taliban to consider allowing women to resume agency work

The head of a major aid organisation said Thursday that the Taliban have agreed to consider allowing Afghan women to resume work at the agency in the southern province of Kandahar, the religious and political centre for the country's rulers.

The Taliban last December barred Afghan women from working at nongovernmental organisations, or NGOs, allegedly because they were not wearing the hijab — the Islamic headscarf — correctly or observing gender segregation rules. In April, they said the ban extended to UN offices and agencies in Afghanistan. There are exemptions in some sectors, like health care and education.

Jan Egeland, the secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, met officials in the capital Kabul and Kandahar to persuade them to reverse the ban on the organisation's female staff.

"We have an agreement to start immediate talks on a temporary arrangement that will enable our female colleagues to work with and for women and others in Kandahar," Egeland told the news agency. "If we get a provincial exemption in Kandahar, we should be able to replicate it elsewhere."

In January, the Taliban said they were working on guidelines for women to return to work at NGOs. Egeland said earlier this week that key officials told him they are close to finalising these guidelines. But they were unable to give a timeline or details when pressed.

The temporary arrangement would be in place while the nationwide guidelines are developed. The interim arrangement would cover all sectors and all programming by the Norwegian Refugee Council, he said.