The UN condemns the Taliban’s threat to close NGOs that hire women

MADRID Dec. 31 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The UN has expressed its “concern” about the Taliban’s direct threat to close NGOs in Afghanistan that do not comply with a decree to have only men as employees, a warning that for the United Nations not only deepens discrimination against women but also puts at risk adequate care for the Afghan population.

The UN Secretary General, headed by António Guterres, has regretted that since the return of the Taliban to power in August 2021, women’s freedom of action has been “drastically” reduced, in a general context of “humanitarian crisis.” .

“We have repeatedly asked the ‘de facto’ authorities to reverse the restrictions that have affected the ability of women and girls to access education, employment, medical treatment and humanitarian assistance,” he recalled at the conference. a spokesperson for Guterres, Florencia Soto, told the press.

Along the same lines, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, was this Tuesday “deeply alarmed” by the threat from NGOs, the result of a “wrong” measure that he has now urged to repeal.

“No country can progress, politically, economically or socially, if it excludes half of its population from public life. For the future of Afghanistan, the ‘de facto’ authorities must change course,” Turk claimed in a statement. which has influenced the “vital role” played by NGOs.

The current concern stems from a notice published on social networks by the Afghan Ministry of Economy and in which, appealing to a decree promulgated two years ago, it once again orders all NGOs, “domestic and foreign”, to fire women that they may have contracted, since otherwise it reserves the right to order the closure of these organizations.

“In the event that (the organizations) do not cooperate, all activities of the offending party and the activity permit will be suspended,” reads the note from the Ministry, the authority responsible for registering and supervising the activity of NGOs.