The Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday rejected the UN Security Council’s demand to remove the ban on women for working for the UN in Afghanistan.
In statement posted on Twitter, the group said that restrictions on women were “an internal social matter of Afghanistan that does not impact outside states.”
On the Thursday, the UN Security Council in New York voted on a resolution, proposed by the United Arab Emirates and Japan, unanimously condemned the Taliban’s ban on women working for the UN. The group had previously banned women from working as aid workers.
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The UN Security Council urged the Taliban to “swiftly reverse” the ban and that women should have “full, equal, meaningful and safe participation” in the country.
The Taliban has repeatedly rejected calls from the international community and human rights organisations to lift restrictions on women and girls’ rights to work and education.
The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, is to host a closed-door meeting in Doha, Qatar, on 1 May with representatives from countries to discuss the future of Afghanistan.
