The UN Security Council also condemns the Taliban forbidding women

The UN Security Council calls on the Taliban to reverse recent restrictions on Afghan women. In a press release, the UN body says that these measures represent a growing loss of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

The situation of women in Afghanistan came under further pressure this month. A week ago, the Taliban announced that female students would no longer be welcome at universities, after being banned from secondary schools earlier this year.

On Saturday, strict Islamic leaders banned Afghan women from working for foreign aid organizations. The UN Security Council fears that this measure will have a major impact on humanitarian work in Afghanistan, including that of the UN.

The organization also points out that the restrictions stand in stark contrast to promises made by the Taliban shortly after taking power, when the group clearly presented itself as more moderate. The new leaders then announced a less strict policy than between 1996 and 2001, when they first took power in Afghanistan. Women had virtually no freedom of movement during this period.

The Taliban came to power last summer after 20 years of US military presence in Afghanistan. We then made this explanatory video on the Islamic group:

The women certainly had nothing to fear, a Taliban spokesman assured in August last year. They would be treated equally, he said, at least under Sharia, the strict Islamic law used by the Taliban.

Despite this, women have been stripped of all sorts of rights over the past year. This is how they must do since May cover the face again when they take to the streets and are therefore no longer allowed to receive an education.

Besides the UN Security Council, the top UN official in Kabul also criticized the recent restrictions this week. Three foreign aid organizations active in Afghanistan have suspended their work there even on.

In a tweet, the Dutch Foreign Ministry condemned the Taliban measure that excludes Afghan women from humanitarian organizations. The department has called women an essential part of humanitarian work.