UN says leaving Afghanistan would be ‘heartbreaking’

By MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations says it’s ready to take the “heartbreaking” decision to pull out of Afghanistan in May if it can’t persuade the Taliban to let local women work for the organization. Achim Steiner heads the U.N. Development Program. Steiner tells The Associated Press that U.N. officials are negotiating with the Islamist government in the hope it will make exceptions to an edict this month barring local women from working for the U.N. But if not, Steiner says the U.N. has decided human rights are non-negotiable and it will leave in May. A U.N. report released Tuesday shows Afghanistan desperately needs more women in the workforce, with the country’s economy flailing.