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The Taliban administration According to a letter sent by the Ministry of Economy to all licensed NGOs, it has ordered all local and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Afghanistan to stop hiring female workers.
The ministry said that non-fulfillment of the requirements will result in the cancellation of the licenses of the mentioned NGOs.
In the letter, the ministry – spokesman Abdul Rahman Habib confirmed to CNN – cited the reasons for the decision as non-compliance with Islamic dress codes and other laws and regulations of the Islamic Emirate.
“Recently, there have been serious complaints regarding the non-compliance with Islamic hijab and other laws and regulations of the Islamic Emirate,” says the letter, as a result of which “all female employees working in national and international non-governmental organizations are ordered to be terminated.” .”
Earlier this week, the Taliban government stopped his university studies For all female students in Afghanistan.
A spokesman for Afghanistan’s Ministry of Higher Education confirmed the university’s suspension to CNN on Tuesday. In the letter published by the Ministry of Education, it was stated that the decision was taken at the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers and the order will come into force immediately.
In a televised press conference on Thursday, the Taliban’s higher education minister said they were banning women from universities because they did not follow Islamic dress codes and other “Islamic values”, citing the fact that female students were traveling without a male guardian. movement provoked anger among women in Afghanistan.
marks one more step In the Taliban’s brutal crackdown on Afghan women’s freedoms since the hardline Islamist group took over the country in August 2021.
The United Nations condemned the Taliban’s statement on Saturday.
“Women should be given the opportunity to play an important role in all areas of life, including humanitarian aid. Banning women from working is a violation of the most fundamental rights of women, as well as a clear violation of humanitarian principles,” the UN statement said.
“This latest decision will only further harm the most vulnerable, especially women and girls.”
He also added that he would try to get a meeting with the Taliban leadership to seek clarification.
UNICEF said the order was a “dramatic rollback of rights for girls and women (which will have far-reaching consequences for the provision of health, nutrition and education services for children).”
UNICEF’s regional director for South Asia, George Laryea-Adjei, tweeted: “UNICEF stands with every girl and woman in Afghanistan and calls on the Taliban to urgently restore all women humanitarian workers to their life-saving work for vulnerable families and communities.”
Amnesty International called for the ban to be “immediately lifted” and the Taliban to “stop their abuse of power”.
“Women and girls should not be punished for demanding and defending their fundamental rights,” the statement said. “The right of all people, especially women in Afghanistan, to work must be fully realized in accordance with international human rights law.”
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken also spoke on Saturday. “Deeply concerned that the Taliban’s ban on women carrying out humanitarian aid in Afghanistan will cut off vital and vital aid to millions of people,” she wrote on Twitter.
“Women are at the center of humanitarian operations around the world. This decision can be devastating for the people of Afghanistan.”
Thomas West, the United States’ special representative for Afghanistan, called the Taliban’s latest order “deeply irresponsible” on Twitter on Saturday.
“This poses deadly risks to the millions of people who depend on life-saving aid. The Taliban are ignoring their most basic obligations to their people,” West wrote on Twitter.
Although the Taliban have repeatedly claimed to protect the rights of girls and women, they have actually done the opposite, taking away their hard-won freedoms for which they have fought tirelessly for the past two decades.
Some of the most striking restrictions have been on education, with girls barred from returning to secondary schools in March. The move devastated many students and their families He described their futile dreams to CNN to become a doctor, teacher or engineer.
