The Taliban say they will close all national and foreign nongovernmental groups in Afghanistan employing women. It comes two years after they told NGOs to suspend the employment of Afghan women, allegedly because they didn’t wear the Islamic headscarf correctly.
In a letter published on X Sunday night, the Economy Ministry warned that failure to comply with the latest order would lead to NGOs losing their license to operate in Afghanistan.
The ministry said it was responsible for the registration, co-ordination, leadership and supervision of all activities carried out by national and foreign organizations.
The government was once again ordering the stoppage of all female work in institutions not controlled by the Taliban, according to the letter.
“In case of lack of co-operation, all activities of that institution will be cancelled and the activity licence of that institution, granted by the ministry, will also be cancelled.”
It’s the Taliban’s latest attempt to control or intervene in NGO activity.
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.
Taliban deny interfering with aid agencies
According to Tom Fletcher, a senior UN official, the proportion of humanitarian organizations reporting that their female or male staff were stopped by the Taliban’s morality police has also increased.
The Taliban deny they are stopping aid agencies from carrying out their work or interfering with their activities.
They have already barred women from many jobs and most public spaces, and also excluded them from education beyond sixth grade.
CBC’s Susan Ormiston speaks with three Afghan exiles living in Canada about the changes they’re seeing in Afghanistan and the impact that has had on women and girls in the country, three years after the U.S. withdrawal from the country.
In another development, the Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada has ordered that buildings should not have windows looking into places where a woman might sit or stand.
According to a four-clause decree posted on X late Saturday, the order applies to new buildings as well as existing ones.
Windows should not overlook or look into areas like yards or kitchens. Where a window looks into such a space, the person responsible for that property must find a way to obscure this view to “remove harm” by installing a wall, fence or screen.
Municipalities and other authorities must supervise the construction of new buildings to avoid installing windows that look into or over residential properties, according to the decree.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing was not immediately available for comment on Akhundzada’s instructions.
