United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Tuesday urged Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban to lift “unimaginable restrictions” on women, warning of “dire consequences” for “all Afghans.”
For their part, at the United Nations headquarters in New York, the 15 members of the Security Council declared themselves in a press release “deeply alarmed” by the decision of the Afghan regime to suspend women’s access to the university and prohibit them work in NGO. .
“These unimaginable restrictions on women and girls will not only increase the suffering of all Afghans but will, I fear, pose a risk beyond the borders of Afghanistan,” Volker Türk wrote in a statement in Geneva, warning the Taliban: “No country can develop.” – or even survive – socially and economically if half its population is excluded”.
A succession of prohibitions
The Taliban, who seized power in Kabul in August 2021 and whose authority is not recognized by most of the international community, have just banned women and girls from studying at university and working in national or international NGOs within days of each other. .
“This latest decree by the de facto authorities will have dire consequences for women and for the entire Afghan people,” the High Commissioner said.
“Banning women from working in NGOs will deprive them and their families of their income and their right to contribute positively to the development of their country and the well-being of their fellow citizens,” Mr. Türk stressed, adding his voice to a concert worldwide rejections.
Many NGOs depend on their employees and will not be able to function without them.
Direct reaction from NGOs
On Monday, half a dozen NGOs suspended their activities there after the Taliban threatened to revoke the authorizations of organizations that do not respect the decree.
“The ban will significantly undermine, if not destroy, the ability of these NGOs to provide essential services on which so many vulnerable Afghans depend,” the UN human rights chief predicted. More than half of the population – some 24 million people – depends in one way or another on humanitarian aid.
For its part, the Security Council called for the reopening of schools and universities for women and ruled that the ban on them working in NGOs will have “a significant and immediate impact on humanitarian operations in the country, including those of the UN.”
Source: BFM TV
