The European Union High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, has condemned on Sunday the decree recently issued by the Taliban-installed authorities in Afghanistan banning women from working in NGOs.
«The EU is appalled by these decisions, which come on top of the Taliban’s previous restrictions on women’s ability and right to work, receive education and, as the entire international community has repeatedly stressed, constitute a clear violation of their human rights,» he said.
Borrell expressed that this decision means «an erasure of women» in the Afghan society. He also recalled that some 30 million people «depend on humanitarian aid, including food and medical assistance, to survive».
«Women have a particularly important role in providing assistance to other women. Restricting their participation in this vital work will impede the delivery of such assistance to a large part of the population, including widows, female-headed households and children,» he said.
Finally, the High Representative called on the ‘de facto’ authorities to lift their decision «immediately» and warned that the EU will «assess the impact» and «consequences» of the recent actions taken by the Taliban.
The Ministry of Economy of the Taliban authority in Afghanistan issued a decree on Saturday ordering all NGOs, whether national or international, to suspend women’s employment contracts until further notice.
The reason given by the Taliban authorities was non-compliance by female employees with government regulations concerning the hijab, the veil that women must wear in public, DPA news agency reported.
This measure comes in the same week in which the Ministry of Education banned women from university education, also alleging non-compliance with the dress code, among other alleged violations of the law.
The decision has drawn criticism from the international community, including much of the Islamic world. The Taliban announced Friday the opening of an internal debate to discuss the criticism.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
