The Taliban-led Afghan regime has barred Afghan women from working for the United Nations, the organization said on Wednesday. The UN said the Taliban had informed them verbally but there had not yet been written communication of the move. The UN has told its Afghan staff, both male and female, not to come to work for 48 hours, until it has clarity on the matter in meetings with the Taliban. “This is the latest in a disturbing trend undermining the ability of aid organizations to reach those most in need,” a UN spokesman said, adding that it “cannot operate and deliver life-saving assistance without female staff”. The UN has called the Taliban order “unacceptable and frankly inconceivable”. Female workers play a vital role in on-the-ground aid operations, particularly in identifying other women in need. The UN has been working to bring humanitarian aid to 23 million people in Afghanistan, which is reeling from a severe economic and humanitarian crisis. Foreign female workers are exempt from the ban. But if implemented, this would be the most significant test of the future of UN operations in Afghanistan, and the relationship between the organization and the Taliban government. The UN said that local Taliban authorities prevented Afghan women from going to work at UN facilities in eastern Nangarhar province on Tuesday. In response, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres tweeted, “I strongly condemn the prohibition of our Afghan female colleagues from working in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province. If this measure is not reversed, it will inevitably undermine our ability to deliver life-saving aid to the people who need it.”