United Nations (TDI): The United Nations has told the Taliban to revoke a ban on Afghan women working in NGOs after the interim government issued a circular warning international groups that they faced suspension and possible revocation of their license if they violated a decree first issued in 2022.
The measure, issued by the Ministry of Economy on 26 December, enforces a 2-year-old decree prohibiting women from working with both national and foreign NGOs.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rughts, Volker Turk, emphasized the devastating impact on the delivery of critical humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan the decree will have, where more than half the population lives below the poverty line.
He said that NGOs are essential to the survival of millions of Afghan nationals, offering life-saving support to men, women and children alike.
“This is unquestionably the wrong path,” Turk said, urging Afghan interim authorities to reconsider what he described as a “deeply discriminatory decree.”
Since coming to power, Afghanistan’s Taliban have restricted the rights of women and girls, barring them from healthcare, education, work, and movement.
These measures, including the latest crackdown on employment in NGOs, effectively erase female presence from public life, undermining the country’s prospects for progress.
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The High Commissioner called on Taliban to rethink their course, not just for the sake of women and girls but for the future of the country as a whole.
He also underlined the broader implications of these policies for the international community, noting that restricting women’s participation in public life exacerbates poverty and hampers efforts to build a resilient and stable society.
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“For Afghanistan’s future, the Taliban must change course,” Turk said.
