KABUL 29 Dec (Online): G7 foreign ministers on Thursday called on the Taliban to \u201curgently reverse\u201d a ban on women working in Afghanistan\u2019s aid sector.<\/p>\n
The ban is the latest blow against women\u2019s rights in Afghanistan since the Taliban reclaimed power last year.<\/p>\n
The Taliban also barred women from attending universities earlier this month, prompting global outrage and protests in some Afghan cities.<\/p>\n
The G7 ministers along with those of Australia, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, and the Netherlands said in a joint statement they were \u201cgravely concerned that the Taliban\u2019s reckless and dangerous order puts millions of those Afghans at risk who depend on humanitarian assistance for their survival\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe call on the Taliban to urgently reverse this decision,\u201d they said in the statement issued by Britain\u2019s foreign ministry.<\/p>\n
It comes after six aid bodies suspended operations in Afghanistan in response to the ban.<\/p>\n
They included Christian Aid, ActionAid, Save the Children, the Norwegian Refugee Council, and CARE.<\/p>\n
The International Rescue Committee, which provides emergency response in health, education, and other areas and employs 3,000 women across Afghanistan, also said it was suspending services.<\/p>\n
\u201cWomen are absolutely central to humanitarian and basic needs operations. <\/p>\n
Unless they participate in aid delivery in Afghanistan, NGOs will be unable to reach the country\u2019s most vulnerable people to provide food, medicine, winterisation, and other materials and services they need to live,\u201d the G7 statement said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Taliban continue to demonstrate their contempt for the rights, freedoms, and welfare of the Afghan people, particularly women and girls,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n
Christian Aid has warned that millions of people in Afghanistan are on the \u201cverge of starvation\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cReports that families are so desperate they have been forced to sell their children to buy food are utterly heartbreaking,\u201d said Christian Aid\u2019s head of global programmes Ray Hasan.<\/p>\n
A ban on women aid workers would \u201conly curtail our ability to help the growing number of people in need\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n
The Taliban\u2019s ban has come at a time when millions across the country are dependent on humanitarian aid provided by international donors through a vast network of NGOs.<\/p>\n
Afghanistan\u2019s economic crisis has only worsened since the Taliban seized power in August last year, which led to Washington freezing billions of dollars of its assets and foreign donors cutting aid.<\/p>\n
After the minister of higher education banned women from universities, charging that they too were not properly dressed, protests were forcefully dispersed by the authorities.<\/p>\n
Since returning to power in August last year, the Taliban had already barred teenage girls from secondary school.<\/p>\n
Women have also been pushed out of many government jobs, prevented from travelling without a male relative, and ordered to cover up outside of the home, ideally with a burqa.<\/p>\n
The G7 grouping takes in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the US as well as the European Union.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KABUL 29 Dec (Online): G7 foreign ministers on Thursday called on the Taliban to \u201curgently reverse\u201d a ban on women working in Afghanistan\u2019s aid sector. The ban is the latest blow against women\u2019s rights in Afghanistan since the Taliban reclaimed power last year. The Taliban […]<\/p>\n
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