CNN
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On Tuesday, the UN Security Council said it was “extremely alarmed” by the ruling Taliban’s ban on women from attending college or working for aid organizations in Afghanistan.
In a move widely condemned by the international community, the Islamist group last week asked all local and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to suspend the work of their female employees and remove all female students from the country. ordered to suspend the university education of
In a statement Tuesday, the UNSC expressed its “deep concern” and called for “the full, equal and meaningful participation of women and girls in Afghanistan.”
It also called on the Taliban to reverse policies that “represent the increasing erosion of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
The new restrictions mark another step in the Taliban’s brutal crackdown on women’s freedom in Afghanistan after hardline Islamist groups took over Afghanistan in August 2021.
The Taliban, which repeatedly claimed to protect the rights of girls and women, have done the opposite, stripping women of the hard-won freedoms they have fought relentlessly over the past two decades.
Some of the Taliban’s most notable restrictions concern education, with girls banned from returning to secondary school in March. The move devastated many students and their families, who told CNN of their shattered dreams of becoming doctors, teachers or engineers.
At least six major foreign aid organizations have said they have temporarily suspended their operations in Afghanistan following the ban on female NGO staff.
A UNSC statement said the ban on NGOs would affect humanitarian operations in the country, including the United Nations.
“These restrictions run counter to what the Taliban have promised to the Afghan people and the expectations of the international community,” the UNSC added.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrote on Twitter on Tuesday that the restrictions were “an unjustifiable violation of human rights and must be rescinded.”
“The actions of excluding and silencing women and girls continue to cause immense suffering and a major setback to the potential of the Afghan people,” he said.
