The Taliban has banned women from working in domestic and foreign NGOs citing the reason of not wearing hijab. Violation of this order has threatened to cancel their license. The Taliban justify their order by saying NGO workers are breaking Islamic Sharia dress laws by not wearing the hijab.
The United Nations condemned the Taliban’s order issued on Saturday as a violation of fundamental rights. This order has been given at a time when female students were banned from participating in the university a few days ago. Women NGO workers in Afghanistan who work as the main breadwinners for their families have expressed their fear and apprehension at the Taliban’s decision to the BBC.
One said, ‘If I can’t go to work, who will pay for my family?’ Another described the directive as ‘disappointing’, saying he would have followed the Taliban’s dress code. Another woman questioned the Taliban’s Islamic morals, saying that as a result, she would have to struggle to pay for her house and provide food for her children from now on. ‘The whole world is watching us, doing nothing,’ he says.
It has been reported that the order of the Taliban will apply to all local and foreign NGOs. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken expressed deep concern over this, saying it would disrupt vital aid programs for millions of people. ‘Women play a key role in humanitarian aid across the world. This decision will be disastrous for the Afghan people,’ said Blinken.
A senior UN official described the Taliban’s order as a ‘serious violation of basic human rights principles’. United Nations agencies carry out large-scale relief and development operations across Afghanistan. The organizations are scheduled to sit in a meeting on Sunday about how they will work after this directive of the Taliban. An official of Save the Children said that they will discuss this with the Taliban authorities. But if women are not allowed to work, they may have to close down their activities.
Melissa Corne, an official at CARE International, said that it is essential to have women workers in the work of non-governmental organizations to reach women and children. “Where there is a threat of famine across the country, the humanitarian situation will deteriorate very quickly without them (women workers),” she said.
This week, the ruling Taliban in Afghanistan banned women from attending universities and ordered private tuition centers not to teach female students. That directive also drew widespread criticism. But the grand imam of Egypt’s Al Azhar mosque says the Taliban’s decision to ban girls’ university education in Afghanistan is in conflict with Islamic Sharia law.
Imam Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb is considered the highest authority in Sunni Islam. In a statement, he said, Sharia law requires men and women to be enlightened from birth to death. Although the Taliban promised when they retook power in Afghanistan last year that their rule would be more flexible than in the 1990s, they continue to erode women’s rights one after another. Source: BBC.
