The Organization of Islamic Cooperation has expressed “grave concern” over the Taliban’s ban on local women working for the United Nations in the country and says it is yet another “alarming violation of Afghan women’s fundamental rights.”
On Tuesday, April 4, the Taliban issued another edict against women, this time banning local women from working for the UN in the country. The move sparked outrage among the international community and the UN has called for an immediate reversal of the order.
The UN has said the latest ban is unlawful discrimination against and a direct attack on women, and wholly against the core values and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the international human rights treaties to which Afghanistan is a party.
The OIC meanwhile stated that “following the disturbing announcement, the General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has expressed its grave concern over the reported ban. The new edict will intensify the successive restrictive measures imposed on women and girls, including banning them from education, government jobs, and from working for non-governmental organizations.
The ban, the General Secretariat indicated, is a counter-productive decision with potentially consequential ramifications not just for Afghan women, but more significantly for UN humanitarian operations across the country.
Calling the move “unacceptable”, the OIC said in its statement the Taliban must “revisit this unacceptable decision and allow Afghans, both men and women, to partake in the reconstruction of their country after decades of violent conflict and socio-economic vulnerability.”
