The Taliban say they will close all national and foreign non-governmental groups that employ women in Afghanistan. This comes two years after he called on NGOs to suspend the employment of Afghan women, allegedly because they did not wear the Islamic headscarf correctly.
x In a letter published Sunday night, the Economy Ministry warned that failure to comply with the latest order could lead to NGOs losing their licenses to operate in Afghanistan.
The ministry said it is responsible for registering, coordinating, leading and supervising all activities carried out by national and foreign organisations.
According to the letter, the government is once again ordering a halt to the work of all women in institutions not controlled by the Taliban.
“In case of lack of cooperation, all activities of that institution will be canceled and the activity license of that institution granted by the Ministry will also be cancelled.”
This is the latest attempt by the Taliban to control or interfere with NGO activity.
Earlier this month, the UN Security Council heard that a growing proportion of female Afghan humanitarian workers were prevented from doing their work, even though relief work is essential.
The proportion of humanitarian organizations reporting that their female or male staff had been stopped by the Taliban’s morality police has also increased, according to Tom Fletcher, a senior UN official.
The Taliban deny that they are preventing aid agencies from doing their work or interfering with their activities.
They already banned women from many jobs and most public places, and also excluded them from education beyond the sixth grade.
In another development, Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada has ordered that buildings should not have windows overlooking areas where a woman could sit or stand.
The order applies to new buildings as well as existing buildings, according to a four-section decree posted late Saturday night.
Windows should not overlook or overlook areas like the yard or the kitchen. Where a window overlooks such a space, the person responsible for the property must find a way to obscure this view by installing a wall, fence or screen to “eliminate the harm”.
The decree states that municipalities and other authorities should monitor the construction of new buildings to avoid installing peephole windows on residential properties.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing was not immediately available to comment on Akhundzada’s instructions.