CNN
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The Taliban administration in Afghanistan has ordered all local and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to prevent their female employees from coming to work, according to a letter from the Ministry of Economy sent to all approved NGOs.
Failure to comply will result in the revocation of the licenses of said NGOs, the ministry said.
The ministry in the letter – which its spokesman Abdul Rahman Habib confirmed to CNN as valid – cites non-compliance with Islamic dress rules and other laws and regulations of the Islamic Emirate as reasons for the decision.
“Lately, there have been serious complaints regarding non-compliance with the Islamic hijab and other laws and regulations of the Islamic emirate,” the letter said, adding that accordingly “directives are given to suspend work of all employees of national and international non-governmental organizations”. .”
Earlier this week, the Taliban government suspended university education for all female students in Afghanistan.
A spokesperson for Afghanistan’s Ministry of Higher Education confirmed the university’s suspension to CNN on Tuesday. A letter released by the Department for Education said the decision was made at a cabinet meeting and the order would come into effect immediately.
In a televised press conference on Thursday, the Taliban Minister for Higher Education said they had banned women from universities for not following Islamic dress rules and other “Islamic values”, citing female students traveling without a male guardian. This decision sparked outrage among women in Afghanistan.
This marks a new stage in the Taliban’s brutal crackdown on Afghan women’s freedoms, following the radical Islamist group’s takeover of the country in August 2021.
Although the Taliban have repeatedly claimed that they will protect the rights of girls and women, they have in fact done the opposite, taking away the hard-won freedoms they have fought tirelessly for over the past two decades.
Some of its starkest restrictions relate to education, with girls barred from returning to secondary schools in March. The decision devastated many students and their families, who told CNN of their dashed dreams of becoming doctors, teachers or engineers.
