Women banned from NGOs due to unsafe environment: Mujahid

KABUL (Pajhwok): Women have been banned from working in None-Government Organisations (NGOs) due to insecure working environment and lack of government control on them, a top acting government official said on Saturday.

Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesperson for the acting government during an exclusive interview with BBC, said that according to their assessment the honor and dignity of women working in NGOs was not secure therefore the ‘Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’ (IEA) banned them from working.

Referring to the financial situation of some women who supported themselves and their families from their jobs he said: “This is a general decree for the implementation of Islamic Sharia and it is obvious that some people will suffer from this decision and they should think about alternatives ways.”

“For earning food we should look for options described by Sharia Law. If someone says he will steal in order to earn livelihood for his children we cannot allow such things and this is un-Islamic.”

He said it was government responsibility to protect the honor of women and it was also government responsibility to provide them better live.

“NGOs providing humanitarian support to Afghanistan should consider certain values. If they ignore certain values then the people of Afghanistan did not need those assistance.”

Earlier, the Ministry of Economy in a statement said that serious complaints had been recently received regarding the violation of Hijab and enforced rules of the IEA by women employees in public and private institutions.

The latter reads: “With the approval of the Ministry of Economy, to discharge its responsibility and mission for the implementation of the applicable laws and regulations of the IEA in the working area of domestic and foreign NGOs, all respected institutions are instructed that until further order, all female employees who work in the related fields shall stop their work.”