The Afghan Taliban government has ordered all domestic and foreign NGOs to stop hiring women. Not just this, the Taliban prohibits higher education for Afghan women.
KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban government on Saturday ordered all non-governmental organizations in Afghanistan and abroad to stop hiring women, allegedly because some female employees were not properly wearing the Islamic hijab. They also banned women from attending religious classes at mosques in the capital, Kabul.
The bans are the latest curbs on women's rights and freedoms by Afghanistan's new rulers and come just days after the Taliban banned female students from universities across the country.
Since then, Afghan women have been demonstrating against the ban in major cities - a rare sign of internal protest since the Taliban took power last year. The decision also drew outrage from the international community.
The NGO order came in a letter from Economy Minister Qari Din Mohammed Hanif, which said any organization that did not comply with the order would have its license to operate in Afghanistan revoked. Ministry spokesman Abdul Rahman Habib confirmed the contents of the letter to The Associated Press.
The ministry said it had received "serious complaints" that female staff of NGOs were not wearing "appropriate" headscarves or hijabs. It was unclear whether the order would apply to all women or just Afghan women working in NGOs.
Further details were not immediately available amid concerns the Taliban's latest move could be a springboard to a blanket ban on Afghan women from leaving their homes.
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