- Taliban forbade female employees of non-governmental organisations from reporting to work.
- The licences of the aforementioned NGOs will be revoked for non-compliance.
After the Taliban forbade female employees of non-governmental organisations from reporting to work, three international humanitarian organisations said on Sunday that they were taking steps to temporarily halt their operations in Afghanistan.
“We cannot effectively reach children, women and men in desperate need in Afghanistan without our female staff,” aid organizations Save the Children, Norwegian Refugee Council and CARE International said in a joint statement Sunday.
“Without women driving our response, we would not have jointly reached millions of Afghans in need since August 2021. Beyond the impact on delivery of lifesaving assistance, this will affect thousands of jobs in the midst of an enormous economic crisis,” said the statement, which was signed by the heads of the three NGOs.
“Whilst we gain clarity on this announcement, we are suspending our programmes, demanding that men and women can equally continue our lifesaving assistance in Afghanistan,” the statement added.
According to a letter the Ministry of Economy delivered to all authorised NGOs, the Taliban administration on Saturday ordered all local and foreign non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to prevent the attendance of its female employees. The licences of the aforementioned NGOs will be revoked for non-compliance, the government warned.
The non-observance of Islamic dress requirements as well as other laws and regulations are cited by the ministry as justifications for the decision in the letter.
“Lately there have been serious complaints regarding not observing the Islamic hijab and other Islamic Emirate’s laws and regulations,” the letter said, adding that as a result “guidance is given to suspend work of all female employees of national and international non-governmental organizations.”
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