NY City: On Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres vowed that the group would continue to support the Afghan people with humanitarian aid and stand up for their rights.

Speaking in the Qatari capital of Doha following a two-day meeting held behind closed doors to discuss the situation in the nation, he claimed that there had been a fruitful exchange of ideas.

He went on to say that the purpose of the meeting was to create an international response plan for the situation in which millions of Afghans are suffering from a severe humanitarian crisis and the rights of women and girls are being violated, including restrictions on their ability to attend school and universities or work for international aid organisations.

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The meeting was not attended by the Taliban in power, and Guterres emphasised that it should not be interpreted as "recognition of Taliban de facto authority," but rather as an effort by the international community to cooperate for the benefit of the Afghan people. The need for an engagement strategy that would enable the stabilisation of the nation, according to him, was acknowledged by the participants.

After the UN Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 2681 on April 27, which denounced the Taliban's ban on women working for the UN and other nongovernmental organisations in the country, he said he was pleased to call the meeting and that it "undermines human rights and humanitarian principles."

According to Guterres, the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan under the Taliban is getting worse. Additionally, he criticised the group for its strict views on women and girls as well as an uptick in drug trafficking.

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After fighting a 20-year insurgency against the Western forces that had ruled the nation since the US-led invasion in 2001 but withdrew in August 2021, the Taliban reclaimed control of it almost two years ago.

The Taliban initially prohibited girls from attending high school and later prohibited women from attending universities, in spite of their initial promises to protect women's rights.

The US government has sanctioned the Taliban and frozen the Central Bank of Afghanistan's foreign assets worth billions of dollars.

A persistent terrorist presence still exists in Afghanistan, according to Guterres, and the Taliban "lacks inclusivity" because it won't share power with other racial and political groups.
 The UN chief stated that the humanitarian crisis is serious and that immediate help is needed.

"It's difficult to overestimate the gravity of the situation in Afghanistan," he continued. "It is currently the biggest humanitarian crisis in history. According to Guterres, 28 million Afghans, or 93 percent of the country's population, require humanitarian aid. 97 percent of Afghans also live in poverty. He warned that the six million Afghan children, women, and men were just one step away from famine conditions.

Only $294 million, or 6.4 percent of the $4.6 billion needed, has been raised for the UN's humanitarian response plan for Afghanistan.

Although he stressed that the UN has other concerns about the humanitarian situation, he said that this funding is crucial and is "evaporating" and is a major concern. Afghan nationals make up the vast majority of the aid workers who provide crucial assistance and support to vulnerable groups, and many of them are women. 

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Therefore, Guterres said, the Taliban's ban on women working for domestic and international nongovernmental organisations is "unacceptable" and "endangers lives."

Let me be absolutely clear, he continued. "In the face of unprecedented, systemic assaults on women's and girls' rights, we will never remain silent. When millions of women and girls are silenced, which is a serious violation of fundamental human rights, we will always speak out. He added that the Taliban's treatment of women also runs afoul of national and international laws.