Women staff ban
\nOfficials to discuss way forward as Afghan Taliban indeterminately bar women from working over \u2018dress code\u2019 violations
\nKABUL
\nTop officials from the United Nations and dozens of NGOs operating in Afghanistan are meeting Sunday to discuss the way ahead after the Taliban authorities ordered all NGOs to stop women employees from working, aid officials said.
\nThe hardline Islamists on Saturday threatened to suspend the operating licences of NGOs if they failed to implement the order.
\nThe Ministry of Economy, which issues these licences, said it had received \u201cserious complaints\u201d that women working in NGOs were not observing a proper Islamic dress code.
\n\u201cA meeting of Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) is scheduled later today to consult and discuss how to tackle this issue,\u201d Tapiwa Gomo, public information officer for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told AFP.
\nThe HCT comprises top UN officials and representatives of dozens of Afghan and international NGOs who coordinate distribution of aid across the country.
\nThe meeting will discuss whether to suspend all aid work following the latest Taliban directive, some NGO officials said.
\nThe United Nations, which said it would seek an explanation from the Taliban about the order, condemned the ministry\u2019s directive.
\nIt said the order excluding women \u201csystematically from all aspects of public and political life takes the country backward, jeopardising efforts for any meaningful peace or stability in the country\u201d.
\nUS Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the ban would be \u201cdevastating\u201d to Afghans as it would \u201cdisrupt vital and life-saving assistance to millions\u201d.
\nThe ban comes at a time when millions across the country depend on humanitarian aid provided by international donors through a vast network of NGOs.
\nAfghanistan\u2019s economic crisis has only worsened since the Taliban seized power in August last year, which led to Washington freezing billions of dollars of its assets and foreign donors stopping aid.
\nThe ministry said women working in NGOs were not observing \u201cthe Islamic hijab and other rules and regulations pertaining to the work of females in national and international organisations\u201d.
\nIt remained unclear whether the directive impacted foreign women staff at NGOs.
\nDozens of organisations work across remote areas of Afghanistan and many of their employees are women, with several warning a ban on women staff would stymie their work.
\nThe latest restriction comes less than a week after the Taliban authorities banned women from attending universities, prompting global outrage and protests in some Afghan cities.
\nSince returning to power in August last year, the Taliban have already barred teenage girls from secondary school.
\nWomen have also been pushed out of many government jobs, prevented from travelling without a male relative and ordered to cover up outside of the home, ideally with a burqa.
\nThey are also not allowed to enter parks or gardens.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Women staff ban Officials to discuss way forward as Afghan Taliban indeterminately bar women from working over \u2018dress code\u2019 violations KABUL Top officials from the United Nations and dozens of NGOs operating in Afghanistan are meeting Sunday to discuss the way ahead after the Taliban authorities ordered all NGOs to stop women employees from working, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":303498,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-303462","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n