Taliban Remove Human Rights & Women’s Directorate From Foreign Ministry
Afghanistan International has obtained a document showing the Taliban have removed the Directorate of Human Rights and Women’s International Affairs from the Foreign Ministry. Officials confirmed the letter’s authenticity on Monday.
In the letter, dated May 4, Lotfullah Khpalwak, head of personnel affairs at the Taliban Foreign Ministry, wrote to the ministry’s finance and administrative department that, by order of the Taliban prime minister, the post had been cut from the 1405 Solar Hijri year (March 21, 2026-March 21, 2027) structure.
Since returning to power, the Taliban have gradually removed many institutions related to women from the state structure.
The conversion of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs into the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice is one of the clearest examples of this policy.
At the same time, women have been barred from working in many government offices and non-governmental organisations, while girls have been denied education beyond sixth grade and access to universities. These measures have restricted women’s presence in public life and drawn strong criticism from the international community.
