The UN Security Council has condemned increasing restrictions on women’s rights in Afghanistan and called on the country’s Taliban rulers to reverse them immediately.
The Security Council “reiterated its deep concern over the ban on school attendance beyond the sixth grade, and called for the full, equal and meaningful participation of women and girls in Afghanistan,” the body said Tuesday in a press release. .
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, pointed out the “terrible consequences” of the decision to ban women from working for non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Last week, the Taliban authorities banned university education for women, sparking international outrage and demonstrations in Afghan cities. On Saturday, Taliban authorities announced the exclusion of women from NGO work, a move that has already led four major international aid agencies to suspend their operations in Afghanistan.
“No country can develop, indeed survive, socially and economically with half its population excluded,” Türk said in a statement issued in Geneva.
“These unfathomable restrictions placed on women and girls will not only increase the suffering of all Afghans but, I fear, will pose a risk beyond Afghanistan’s borders,” the High Commissioner stated.
“This latest decree by the de facto authorities will have dire consequences for women and the entire Afghan people,” Türk said, adding that banning women from working for NGOs will deprive them and their families of income and the right to ” contribute positively” to the development of the country.
“The ban will significantly undermine, if not destroy, the ability of these NGOs to provide the essential services on which so many vulnerable Afghans depend,” he said.
Despite initially promising a more moderate government that would respect the rights of women and minorities when they took power in August last year, the Taliban have largely implemented their strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law.
The Taliban banned girls from attending part of primary and secondary school, restricted women from most jobs and ordered them to be fully covered in public. Women are also prohibited from entering parks and gyms.
“Women and girls cannot be denied their inherent rights,” Türk said.
Attempts by the de facto authorities to relegate them to silence and invisibility will not succeed, they will only harm all Afghans, increase their suffering and impede the country’s development,” he said.
Source: TSF
