A few days after the university ban for female students, the Taliban have now also banned women from working in non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The Ministry of Economic Affairs is instructing “all organizations to stop women’s work until further notice,” said a statement from the house on Saturday, which is available to the AFP news agency.
There have been “serious complaints” about not wearing the hijab in connection with the work of women in national and international organizations. Organizations that fail to comply with the ban on women’s employment face the risk of their license being revoked.
Two international NGOs confirmed to AFP that they received the ministry’s notice. “We are suspending all our activities from Sunday,” said a senior official at an international humanitarian NGO.
Management of several NGOs announce consultations
There will soon be a meeting of the management of several NGOs to discuss how to proceed. Even after the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, dozens of non-governmental organizations are still active in Afghanistan, and many of their employees are women.
When they took power again, the radical Islamic Taliban initially announced that they wanted to be less harsh than during their first rule from 1996 to 2001. However, the militia is now becoming more and more radical.
The human rights organization Amnesty International called the announced employment ban for NGO employees a “regrettable attempt to “wipe out” women from the political, social and economic sphere” in Afghanistan.
On Tuesday, the Taliban had already banned women in the country from accessing higher education. Less than three months ago, thousands of girls and women across the country had taken university entrance tests. Many of them wanted to study teaching or medicine.
Most teenage girls in Afghanistan are already excluded from further secondary education. Scores of women public servants have been laid off. Women and girls are also prohibited from entering public parks and gardens. (AFP)
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