Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
The Collective Voice of The Muslim World
Date: 25/12/2022
The fundamental rights of Afghan women have been dealt yet another severe blow following the order issued on Saturday 24 December 2022 by the de facto Ministry of Economy in Kabul to all national and international non-government organizations (NGOs) to suspend the jobs of female employees until further announcement.
The Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), H.E. Hissein Brahim Taha, expressed his exacerbated concerns over the reported ban, as the decision comes hard on the heels of the ban a few days earlier barring Afghan women and girls from accessing universities.
H.E. Taha indicated that the move reflects a willful policy by the de facto leadership apparently seeking to further impact Afghan women’s rights. He pointed out that this perplexing decision will not just deprive Afghan women from a source of livelihood for themselves and their families; worse, it will seriously affect humanitarian and relief operations conducted by a wide network of national and international non-governmental organizations in favor of vulnerable Afghan communities.
The OIC Secretary-General qualified the ban on women’s work for national and international NGOs as self-defeating and disserving the interests of Afghan people, vigorously calling on the de facto authorities to revisit this decision for the sake of social inclusion of women and the undisrupted continuation of the much-needed international humanitarian safety net in Afghanistan.
