On Tuesday, the UN human rights director criticised the growing restrictions on women’s rights in Afghanistan and urged the Taliban government to end them right away. The decision to prevent women from working for non-governmental groups would have “serious ramifications,” he said.
Last week, the Taliban banned women from attending universities, which sparked protests in Afghan cities and international criticism. They made the announcement on Saturday, which has already led four significant international assistance organisations to halt their activity in Afghanistan.
Volker Türk, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement released in Geneva that “no country can develop—indeed, survive—socially and economically with half its citizens disenfranchised.” In addition to making everyone in Afghanistan suffer more, these inexplicable limitations on women and girls, in my opinion, pose a danger outside of Afghanistan’s borders.
Türk stated that banning women from working for NGOs will deprive them and their families of incomes as well as the right to “contribute positively” to the country’s development. “This latest decree by the de facto authorities will have terrible consequences for women and for all Afghan people,” Türk added.
According to him, the restriction will severely limit, if not completely eliminate, these NGOs’ ability to provide the crucial services that so many Afghans in need depend on.
When the Taliban seized control last year, they first pledged a more moderate system that would protect the rights of minorities and women, but they have since broadly enacted their rigid version of Islamic law, known as Sharia.
They have forbidden girls from attending middle and high school, barred them from the majority of jobs, and required them to dress completely in public. Parks and gyms also forbid women’s entry.
The intrinsic rights of women and girls cannot be rejected, according to Türk. The de facto authorities’ attempts to suppress and obscure them won’t succeed; instead, they’ll hurt all Afghans, increase their misery, and hamper the nation’s progress.
