Afghanistan’s Taliban administration has ordered all local and foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to prevent female employees from coming to work, according to a letter from the Ministry of Economy.
The letter, the contents of which were confirmed by the spokesman for the economy ministry, Abdulrahman Habib, said that female NGO workers could not work until further notice.
He claimed the move was a result of some women allegedly not adhering to the administration’s interpretation of the Islamic dress code for women.
Aid workers have said female staff are critical to ensuring women can access support.
Habib said the ban applied to organizations in the Afghanistan Coordination Body for Humanitarian Organizations, known as ACBAR.
Although ACBAR does not include the United Nations, it does include more than 180 local and international NGOs, and the UN often contracts these groups registered in Afghanistan to carry out its humanitarian work.
It is unclear how the order will affect UN agencies, which have a large presence in Afghanistan providing services amid the country’s humanitarian crisis.
It was also unclear whether the rule also applied to foreign women.
Dozens of organizations operate in remote areas of Afghanistan and many of their employees are women, with several warning that banning female staff would make their work more difficult.
The International Rescue Committee said in a statement that its more than 3,000 women staff in Afghanistan were “critical to the delivery of humanitarian aid” in the country.
An official from an international NGO involved in food distribution said the ban was a “big blow”.
“We have mainly female staff to address the humanitarian aid issues of Afghan women,” the official said. “How do we address their concerns now?”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said women were “at the heart of humanitarian operations around the world” and that the ban would be “devastating” for Afghans as it would “disrupt life-saving assistance and that saves the lives of millions of people.”
Deeply concerned that the Taliban’s ban on women delivering humanitarian aid in Afghanistan is disrupting vital and life-saving assistance to millions of people. Women are fundamental in humanitarian operations around the world. This decision could be devastating for the Afghan people.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) December 24, 2022
The European Union, a major funder of aid organizations working in Afghanistan, condemned the decision and said it was assessing “the impact it will have on our aid on the ground”.
This latest attack on women’s rights and freedoms comes days after the administration ordered universities closed to women.
The move drew international condemnation. This week G7 foreign ministers called on the Taliban to lift the ban, warning that “gender-based persecution can constitute a crime against humanity”.
However, the Afghan minister of higher education defended the ban. Nida Mohammad Nadim said she would prevent men and women from mixing in universities and believed some subjects being taught violated the principles of Islam.
“We told the girls to wear the proper hijab, but they didn’t and they were dressed like they were going to a wedding ceremony,” she said. “The girls were studying agriculture and engineering, but that didn’t match the Afghan culture. Girls should learn, but not in areas that go against Islam and Afghan honor.”
He said the universities would be reopened for women once these issues were resolved, which he said were being worked on.
However, this echoes Taliban promises about access to secondary school for girls, which was banned last year.
He insisted classes would resume for girls once “technical issues” related to uniforms and transport were resolved. However, the ban remains in place.
The Taliban have also banned girls and all female staff, including primary school teachers, meaning there is now a total ban on education for women in the country.
Agence France-Presse contributed to this report