Taliban bans women from working for NGOs in Afghanistan

The United Nations has denounced a Taliban directive banning women from working for non-governmental organisations (NGOs). The Islamist authorities defended the action by claiming that female NGO employees had violated dress codes by refusing to wear hijabs. Just a few days prior, female students were banned from attending universities. Amnesty International’s South Asian division has condemned the Taliban’s decision to prohibit women from enrolling in Afghanistan’s secondary schools. A doctor who works in Mazar-i-Sharif and some of the nearby remote villages expressed her “sad and heartbroken” over the news. The fact that women “can’t properly express their difficulties to men” will present another “huge challenge” when they attempt to get medical care.