Terrorism & Drug Trade in Afghanistan A Threat to Regional Countries, Says Iranian FM

While calling the Taliban’s order reckless and dangerous, the statement urged the group to urgently reverse its decision of barring female employees of national and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from the workplace.

The statement had been issued by the Foreign Ministers of Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States and the High Representative of the European Union.

“Women 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’s most vulnerable people to provide food, medicine, winterization, and other materials and services they need to live. This would also affect the humanitarian assistance provided by international organisations, as they utilise NGOs to deliver such materials and services,” the statement added.

The statement also noted that the Taliban seems disinterested in seeking normal relations with the international community as they continue to demonstrate their contempt for the rights, freedoms, and welfare of the Afghan people, particularly women and girls.

They urged the Taliban to respect the political, economic, social, and cultural rights of women and girls in Afghanistan and said that they stand in solidarity with the Afghan people’s calls for girls and women to return to work, school, and university, and for women to continue to play essential roles in humanitarian and basic needs assistance delivery.

The joint statement also said that the signatories are in discussion with the United Nations to avoid any disruption and allow the continuation of all humanitarian operations of international and national NGOs.

These people had been flogged on various charges.

The Taliban publicly flogged another six people in Mehtarlam city of Laghman province on Tuesday.

Earlier, the group had flogged 27 people, including nine women, in Parwan province too.

The Taliban’s flogging of Afghan citizens in public has been met with international condemnation. However, the group has called the international reactions in opposition to Islamic laws.

In the letter, Basir spoke about the achievements of the past twenty years in the education sector and stressed that these achievements have been in danger after the Taliban returned to power in 2021.

He urged Germany to stand by the women of Afghanistan and support their rights and freedoms.

Basir added that the Taliban's approach to women's education is not only a violation of basic human rights, but also is clearly against Islamic values.

He emphasised that what is happening in Afghanistan is gender apartheid and even a crime against humanity.

The former minister of higher education of Afghanistan asked the German government to increase its support and assistance for female students as well as Afghan scholars by providing and facilitating scholarships.

The Grand Mufti of Pakistan said that the Taliban can erase the propaganda of their opponents which states that the group is against girls' education, by providing women an opportunity to educate themselves.

He said that the Taliban has suspended girls’ education on the pretext that they can’t allow co-education, so he urged them to teach male and female students during different shifts and classrooms.

Earlier Usmani, who is also the vice-president of Darul Uloom Karachi in Pakistan, had asked the Taliban leader to reopen girls' secondary and high schools.

The ministry stressed that the Taliban’s decision violates the United Nations Security Council’s resolution 2615 and prevents the flow of humanitarian aid to Afghans.

The ban order came in a letter on December 24 from Taliban’s Economy Minister Qari Din Mohammed Hanif. Abdel Rahman Habib, spokesman for the Taliban's ministry of economy, accused female workers at the foreign aid groups of breaking dress codes by not wearing hijabs. It said any organization found not complying with the order will have their license revoked in Afghanistan. The Economy Ministry’s order comes days after the Taliban banned female students from attending universities across the country, triggering backlash overseas and demonstrations in major Afghan cities.

In fact, four international aid groups have announced suspension of their programmes in the country. The aid groups include the International Rescue Committee (IRC), Save the Children, the Norwegian Refugee Council and CARE.

They all mentioned that their ability to deliver humanitarian services rely on female staff at all levels.