KABUL (Pajhwok): United Kingdom Chargé d'Affaires Hugo Shorter says the ban on women is jeopardising the future of millions of Afghans and their country.
L:ast month, the Taliban government asked public and private universities to suspend women’s higher education until further notice and then ordered NGOs to send their female workers home.
Girls’ schools above sixth grade across Afghanistan have been closed since March.
In a series of tweets, the UK diplomat said: “It is a tragedy for Afghanistan - as the only country in the world to ban women & girls from secondary & higher education & from most government jobs - that the Taliban have now banned women from working for NGOs too.”
He wrote: “More does need to be done globally to protect women’s rights. From equality of pay to eliminating gender-based violence & harassment of women, works to address these issues through its laws, courts, social services, police and with international partners.”
He said the government consulted widely to tackle gender-based violence, including a recent mass survey of women across the UK to gain their insights.
By not giving Afghan women and girls the basic right to an education or work, he believed the Taliban wre jeopardising not only the future of millions of individual Afghans, but also the future of their country.
“We hear that some members of the Taliban privately disagree with the increasing restrictions placed on Afghan women & girls. The Taliban have a collective responsibility to reverse their decision.”
The UN scrutinises all countries and publishes critical reports on human rights concerns, according to the British diplomat.
He noted Afghanistan under the Taliban was being held to the same standards as all other countries, in line with their international legal obligations.
“By not giving Afghan women & girls - half the population - the basic right to an education or work, the Taliban are jeopardising not only the futures of millions of individual Afghans, but also the future of their country.
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid recently told BBC that women were banned from work in domestic and foreign NGOs due to lack of a safe work environment and inadequate government control on them.
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