The United Nations and dozens of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working in Afghanistan met in Kabul Sunday to debate future instructions after Taliban authorities banned girls employees from NGOs.
The order issued by the Taliban authorities drew swift worldwide condemnation, with governments and organizations warning of the affect on humanitarian companies in a rustic the place thousands and thousands depend on support.
The newest restriction comes lower than every week after the hardline Islamists banned girls from attending universities, prompting world outrage and protests in some Afghan cities.
The Ministry of Economy on Saturday threatened to droop the working licenses of NGOs in the event that they did not implement the order.
The ministry, which points these licenses, stated it had obtained “serious complaints” that girls working in NGOs weren’t observing a correct Islamic gown code.
“A meeting of Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) is scheduled later today to consult and discuss how to tackle this issue,” Tapiwa Gomo, public data officer for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, advised AFP.
The HCT includes high U.N. officers and representatives of dozens of Afghan and worldwide NGOs coordinating support distribution throughout the nation.
The assembly will talk about whether or not to droop all support work following the most recent Taliban directive, some NGO officers stated.
The United Nations, which stated it could search a proof from the Taliban in regards to the order, condemned the ministry’s directive.
It stated the order excluding girls “systematically from all aspects of public and political life takes the country backward, jeopardizing efforts for any meaningful peace or stability in the country.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated the ban can be “devastating” to Afghans as it could “disrupt vital and life-saving assistance to millions.”
‘Hell for ladies’
“I’m the only breadwinner of my family. If I lose my job my family of 15 members will die of hunger,” stated Shabana, 24, a lady worker with a global NGO working in Afghanistan for many years.
“While the world is celebrating the arrival of the new year, Afghanistan has become a hell for women.”
The ministry stated girls working in NGOs weren’t observing “the Islamic hijab and other rules and regulations pertaining to the work of females in national and international organizations.”
But girls staff AFP spoke to dismissed the cost.
“Our offices are gender segregated, and every woman is properly dressed,” stated Arezo, who works for an additional overseas NGO.
It remained unclear whether or not the directive impacted overseas girls employees at NGOs.
The ban comes at a time when thousands and thousands throughout the nation depend upon humanitarian support supplied by worldwide donors by an unlimited community of NGOs.
Afghanistan’s financial disaster has solely worsened for the reason that Taliban seized energy in August final 12 months, which led to Washington freezing billions of {dollars} of its belongings and overseas donors slicing support.
Dozens of organizations work throughout distant areas of Afghanistan and plenty of of their staff are girls, with a number of warning a ban on girls employees would stymie their work.
“The ban is going to impact all aspects of humanitarian work as women employees have been key executors of various projects focussing on the country’s vulnerable women population,” stated a high official of a overseas NGO in Kabul.
On Tuesday, the minister of upper training banned girls from universities, charging that they too weren’t correctly dressed.
That ban triggered widespread worldwide outrage and a few protests, which have been forcefully dispersed by the authorities.
Since returning to energy in August final 12 months, the Taliban have already barred teenage ladies from secondary faculty.
Women have additionally been pushed out of many authorities jobs, prevented from touring with no male family member and ordered to cowl up outdoors of the house, ideally with a burqa.
They are additionally not allowed to enter parks or gardens. The Taliban have additionally resumed public floggings of women and men in current weeks.
