G7 foreign ministers call on the Taliban to reverse the ban on women working in Afghanistan’s aid sector. Ban is the latest blow against women’s rights in Afghanistan since the Taliban reclaimed power last year.
The G7 ministers along with those of Australia, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland and the Netherlands said in a joint statement they were “gravely concerned that the Taliban’s reckless and dangerous order… puts at risk millions of Afghans who depend on humanitarian assistance for their survival”.
“We call on the Taliban to urgently reverse this decision,” they said in the statement issued by Britain’s foreign ministry. It comes after six aid bodies suspended operations in Afghanistan in response to the ban.
Hardline Islamists also barred women from attending universities earlier this month. Six aid bodies suspended operations in Afghanistan in response to the ban. Millions of Afghans are dependent on humanitarian aid provided by international donors through a vast network of NGOs. Since returning to power in August last year, the Taliban had already barred teenage girls from secondary school and ordered women to wear the burqa.
