The Taliban’s Decrees Decrease the Worse of Afghan Women, Ban All NGO Activities – World Issues
Jan 21 (IPS) – Afghan women are enduring perhaps their most challenging time yet. Since the Taliban regained power four years ago, restrictions on women and girls have increased, starting with bans on education and paid employment.
Recently, the Taliban have closed the few remaining job opportunities for women, including positions in domestic and international NGOs. Women are now completely barred from domestic or foreign NGO activities. Unemployment among women is increasing at the same rate as new laws are being issued that prevent women from doing various jobs.
Din Mohammad Hanif, who is the Taliban’s Minister of Economy, has warned non-governmental organizations against violating the law that prohibits the employment of women. He said any violation of the rules would lead to suspension of operations and revocation of licenses.
Second, on December 28, 2024, the Ministry sent a letter, a copy of which was released to the media: “All non-governmental organizations are instructed to carefully review the law that prohibits women from working in NGOs and take appropriate measures. doing the right thing,” said the minister.
The women who worked at the NGO described the Taliban’s actions as “discriminatory, cruel, and brutal.” The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volter Türk, also described the Taliban’s announcement as deeply offensive and deeply racist.
Stories of Loss and Destruction
The impact on women has been worse. Razmaa Sekandari, 32, is one of the women forced to leave her NGO job by the Taliban and told to stay at home.
“The head of our office, he says, forced all female employees to resign immediately, and said that if they don’t resign, the office will be closed forever to everyone.” They had no choice but to obey.
“I gave up hope, said Ms. Razmaa, “I was exhausted and could not stand up”.
“When the women and their colleagues were crying and hugging, the head of the office’s voice rang out”, ‘Hurry up, collect your things and go’
Continuing her story Ms. Razmaa said, “In one of the foreign NGOs I worked for, we gave small loans to women in Parwan province. Some knew how to raise chickens, others raised cattle. They had some money from eggs, milk, and they produced yogurt for themselves and their families”. But the termination of their employment has left Ms. Razmaa wondering what she will do.
She shares the same fate as hundreds of other women, some of whom don’t even have access to public information to learn about the Taliban’s new law. Like all their colleagues, they have lost hope and cannot even set foot outside their home.
“I thought I could create job opportunities for women,” said Ms Razmaa, who graduated from Parwan University in economics, “it didn’t happen”.
She became a stay-at-home woman after the Taliban announced that she could no longer work.
“There are five of us at home,” he says, “my mother is sick and my father is old, both of them live at home without income”.
Regarding other family members, Razmaa says that her brother is doing his first year as a lawyer. His brother’s wife attended school until the 11th grade when the Taliban prevented women from continuing their education.
In other words, we all don’t work. I was the only one in the family who was earning money from my work, but the Taliban, through no fault of ours, snatched it from us. We are at a loss as to what to do”, he sighed in frustration.
The Dark Future of NGOs and Women
For Asad Wali, (not his real name) the head of an external NGO in Parwan Province, the Taliban’s announcement came as a surprise.
Wali says: “We were working secretly for the last two years.” “Whenever our female workers visited, they faced serious problems such as being interrogated by the Taliban for not traveling with a mahram” (male guard).
Despite these challenges, women pass through Taliban checkpoints using various pretexts, and are happy that, at least, they still keep their jobs.
Asad Wali narrated a sad story, thus: “At the end of 2024, the project in which women were involved ended. We found a new donor. The proposal and all the documents are ready. The next day, we went to the Department of the Ministry of Economy in the province of Parwan, and they directly told us that because of the law the new Taliban, women’s jobs are completely banned.”
Ending the activities of foreign and domestic non-governmental organizations in Afghanistan will worsen the already difficult conditions for women.
These organizations play a major role in meeting the basic needs of the people and supporting the country’s infrastructure.
In the absence of these organizations, women will face serious consequences because NGOs are the source of important social, economic and health resources. Without them, poverty leading to forced marriages would increase among women.
All the activities that were brought by independent organizations alone, such as skills, job training, and small farming, which improved the health of women, have been removed. As unemployment and poverty rise, most Afghan families are preparing for a dark winter.
© Inter Press Service (2025) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service
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