LONDON
\nG7 foreign ministers on Thursday called on the Taliban to \u201curgently reverse\u201d a ban on women working in Afghanistan\u2019s aid sector, a joint statement said.
\nThe ministers said they were \u201cgravely concerned that the Taliban\u2019s reckless and dangerous order barring female employees of national and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from the workplace puts at risk millions of Afghans who depend on humanitarian assistance for their survival.\u201d
\n\u201cWe call on the Taliban to urgently reverse this decision,\u201d they said in the statement issued by Britain\u2019s foreign ministry.
\nThe ban is the latest blow against women\u2019s rights in Afghanistan since the Taliban reclaimed power last year.
\nLess than a week ago, the hard-line Islamists also barred women from attending universities, prompting global outrage and protests in some Afghan cities.
\n\u201cWomen are absolutely central to humanitarian and basic needs operations. Unless they participate in aid delivery in Afghanistan, NGOs will be unable to reach the country\u2019s most vulnerable people to provide food, medicine, winterization, and other materials and services they need to live,\u201d the G7 statement said.
\n\u201cThe Taliban continue to demonstrate their contempt for the rights, freedoms, and welfare of the Afghan people, particularly women and girls,\u201d it added.
\nThe statement comes after six aid bodies suspended operations in Afghanistan in response to the ban.
\nThey included Christian Aid, ActionAid, Save the Children, the Norwegian Refugee Council and CARE.
\nThe International Rescue Committee, which provides emergency response in health, education and other areas and employs 3,000 women across Afghanistan, also said it was suspending services.
\n\u201cMillions of people in Afghanistan are on the verge of starvation,\u201d Christian Aid\u2019s head of global programs Ray Hasan said on Monday.
\n\u201cReports that families are so desperate they have been forced to sell their children to buy food are utterly heartbreaking,\u201d he said, adding that a ban on women aid workers would \u201conly curtail our ability to help the growing number of people in need.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON G7 foreign ministers on Thursday called on the Taliban to \u201curgently reverse\u201d a ban on women working in Afghanistan\u2019s aid sector, a joint statement said. The ministers said they were \u201cgravely concerned that the Taliban\u2019s reckless and dangerous order barring female employees of national and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from the workplace puts at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":304366,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-304346","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n