ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities have removed women from the government payroll, ending reduced salaries for female civil servants who have been barred from working since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, according to a new United Nations report.
According to a report by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), media outlets reported on Jan. 17 that women were no longer receiving payments in several provinces, effectively terminating their status as government employees.
Some women were informed directly by their employers that they had been dismissed, while others discovered they had lost their jobs only when their monthly salaries failed to arrive, the report said.
The move marks another tightening of restrictions on women under Taliban rule, which has sharply curtailed their participation in public life, education and employment.
The report said Afghan women, including female UN staff, contractors and visitors, have been barred from entering UN premises nationwide since Sept 7, 2025.
As of March 31, Afghan women had been unable to access UN offices across the country for 205 consecutive days, the mission said.
The United Nations and rights groups have repeatedly condemned the measures, saying they amount to systematic discrimination and have deepened the humanitarian and economic crisis facing millions of Afghans.
