CNN
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Three foreign aid groups said Sunday that they are moving to temporarily suspend their operations in Afghanistan after the Taliban prohibiting female employees of NGOs since coming to work.
“We would not be able to effectively reach the children, women and men in need in Afghanistan effectively without our female staff,” aid organizations Save the Children, Refugee Council Na Uy and CARE International said in a joint statement on Sunday.
“Without the women driving our response, we will not be reaching the millions of Afghans in need together as of August 2021. In addition to the impact on the delivery of life-saving assistance, this will affect thousands of jobs in the midst of a great economic crisis,” the statement said, signed by the heads of three NGOs.
“While we are well aware of this announcement, we are suspending our programs, asking that men and women can continue to support our lives in Afghanistan equally,” the statement said. father added.
The Taliban government on Saturday ordered all national and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) not to let their female employees work, according to a letter from the Ministry of Economy to all NGOs. licensed government. The ministry said failure to comply will result in the revocation of the licenses of the aforementioned NGOs.
In the letter, the ministry cited failure to comply with Muslim dress codes as well as other laws and regulations as the reason for the decision.
“Recently, there have been serious complaints about non-compliance with the Islamic headscarf and other laws and regulations of the Islamic Emirate,” the letter read, adding that the “instructions was introduced to suspend the work of all female employees of national and international NGOs.”
Earlier this week, the Taliban government suspended higher education for all female students in Afghanistan.
In a televised news conference on Thursday, the Taliban’s higher education minister said they had banned women from going to universities for not complying with Islamic dress codes and “Islamic values”. ” another, citing the reason female students traveled without a male guardian. Movement spark outrage among women in Afghanistan.
One group of women on the street in the city of Herat on Saturday to protest the university ban. Video circulating on social media shows Taliban officials using water cannons to disperse female protesters. Girls can be seen running from the water cannon and shouting “cowards” at the officials.
New restriction sign one more step during the Taliban’s brutal crackdown on the freedoms of Afghan women, after the hardline Islamist group took over the country in August 2021.
Although the Taliban have repeatedly vowed to protect the rights of girls and women, in reality they have done the opposite, stripping away the hard-won freedoms they have fought tirelessly for more than a year. past two decades.
Some of its most prominent restrictions are on education, with girls also banned from returning to high school in March. This move devastated many students and their families, who describe to CNN their broken dreams become a doctor, teacher or engineer.
The United Nations on Saturday condemned the announcement by the Taliban NGO and said it would try to hold a meeting with the Taliban leadership to seek clarity.
“Women must be empowered to play an important role in all aspects of life, including humanitarian work. Banning women from work would violate the most basic of women’s rights, as well as a clear violation of humanitarian principles,” the statement said. “This latest decision will only further hurt the most vulnerable, especially women and girls.”
UNICEF said the order was a “serious deprivation of the rights of girls and women (that) would have far-reaching consequences for the delivery of health, nutrition and education services”. for children.”
Amnesty International called for the ban to be “immediately reversed” and asked the Taliban to “stop abusing their power”.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also condemned the move on Saturday. “Deeply concerned that the Taliban’s ban on women providing humanitarian aid in Afghanistan will disrupt vital assistance and save millions of lives,” he wrote on Twitter. “Women are at the center of humanitarian action around the world. This decision could be devastating to the people of Afghanistan.”
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mojahid said US officials “should not interfere in the internal affairs of” Afghanistan.
“Those operating in Afghanistan are obligated to abide by the laws and regulations of our country,” he tweeted on Sunday, adding, “We do not allow anyone to say such things. irresponsible or threatening decisions or officials of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in the name of humanitarian aid.”
