The Taliban has announced that they will close all national and foreign nongovernmental groups in Afghanistan employing women, another of their attacks on women’s rights since taking power in August 2021.
The Economy Ministry warned that failure to comply with the latest order would lead to NGOs losing their license to operate in Afghanistan. “In case of lack of cooperation, all activities of that institution will be cancelled and the activity license of that institution, granted by the ministry, will also be cancelled,” they wrote in a letter.
This announcement comes two years after the Taliban told NGOs to suspend the employment of Afghan women, allegedly because they did not wear the Islamic headscarf correctly.
The United Nations said the space for women in Afghanistan has shrunk dramatically in the last two years and repeated its call for the Taliban to reverse the restrictions.
Earlier this month, the UN Security Council heard that an increasing proportion of female Afghan humanitarian workers were prevented from doing their work even though relief work remains essential.
