Antonio Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, has appointed Rubab Fatima, a Bangladeshi diplomat, as the new head of UNAMA (the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan) and his special representative for Afghanistan.
The United Nations announced in a statement that Rubab Fatima will succeed Rosa Otunbayeva in this position.
Rubab Fatima has over three decades of experience in diplomacy, human rights, development, and peacebuilding. Previously, she served as the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations and as the organization’s High Representative for Least Developed Countries.
In 2020, she chaired the Executive Board of UNICEF and in 2022, she became the first woman to head the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission.
From 2019 to 2022, Rubab Fatima was Bangladesh’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and had also served as her country’s ambassador to Japan.
She takes on the leadership of UNAMA at a time when Afghanistan is facing a humanitarian crisis, economic challenges, the return of refugees, and issues related to engagement with the international community.
Additionally, since taking control of Afghanistan, the interim government has deprived women and girls of education and schooling. In its latest restriction, it closed the doors of medical institutes to girls and women, while the health sector across Afghanistan is facing a shortage of personnel.
This action by the current government has resulted in millions of schoolgirls being unable to access education.
Furthermore, women have been banned from going to gyms, restaurants, public baths, being examined by male doctors, traveling without a male guardian, and working in domestic and international NGOs, as well as even at UN offices in Afghanistan.
According to reports, if this prohibition continues, nearly four million girls may be deprived of education by 2030.
