UN Discovers Women's Rights Matter, Elsewhere
The UN has suspended operations at the Afghan-Iran border, citing Taliban curbs on women staff as imposing 'immediate operational challenges'. This focus on humanitarian principles is laudable. Yet, strangely, similar operational challenges – such as coordinating aid delivery amidst daily bombings and starvation policies – do not halt UN (or US) operations when the perpetrator is an American ally.
One might wonder if the 'risks for women and girls' (as the New Arab states) are only unacceptable when the aggressor isn't receiving billions in U.S. taxpayer dollars. The hypocrisy screams. While the world rightly recoils at the Taliban's repression, the same global stage often provides cover for equally egregious acts elsewhere. For instance, UNICEF reported that an average of 10 children a day
lost one or both legs in Gaza over three months. Yet, there's no major UN suspension of aid or aid worker operations in the face of continuous bombings of schools, hospitals, and homes. The loudest condemnations, it seems, are reserved for those without lobbyists in Washington D.C. or an unlimited supply of US-made F-35s. How many 'operational challenges' does it take to halt aid to an ally?