The Taliban are intensifying restrictions on women’s employment. They’ve now mandated organizations to replace women’s names with “household” in their charters. Furthermore, the group has purged women’s names from organizations’ boards of directors and directed these institutions to appoint men in their stead. Sources within these organizations reveal that the Taliban has either dissolved “Women NGOs” or placed them under male leadership. This directive is unofficial but actively enforced. In addition, the Taliban’s governor asserts that, as per the supreme leader’s command, employing women in organizations is strictly forbidden, extending to the vaccination sector. An audio recording attributed to this Taliban official unequivocally states that no organization can hire women or remunerate them for remote work. The United Nations Security Council had earlier reported that the Taliban had ousted women from organizational boards and revoked their signing authority for aid program documents.
In the last two years, the Taliban have placed numerous restrictions on women in both domestic and foreign organizations. Following an order from Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the group’s supreme leader, to ban the employment of women in domestic organizations, the Taliban-controlled Ministry of Economy exerted substantial pressure on these institutions.
The Ministry of Economy, now under Taliban control, has ordered organizations to refrain from using the word “women” in their charters and work reports. Informed sources have told the Hasht-e Subh Daily that, according to this directive, organizations are required to use “household” or other words instead of the word “women.”
Sources within international organizations in Afghanistan report that the Taliban are tightening the noose on women’s livelihoods day by day. According to them, “The Taliban instructed not to record women’s names. Write ‘families,’ ‘households,’ and so on. Even though they have removed women from the boards of directors of organizations, they also prevent the use of women’s names in texts.” These sources add, “Although there is no official written decree [banning the use of women’s names in charters], they insist that [the word ‘woman’] not be used. When you refer to a woman by name, they tell you to change it and replace it with a man. Women can be advisors behind the scenes. They want to eliminate women’s NGOs completely.”
Sources state that the Taliban have not issued this order in writing but have articulated it in their conversations, and currently, this directive is “de facto.” According to them, the removal of women from the leadership of organizations has also been carried out based on verbal orders. These sources emphasize that the Taliban intend to use such measures in their political interactions with the world, emphasizing that these decrees are not formal, but rather verbal and temporary.
Sources describe the “masculinization” of literature in domestic and international organizations as contrary to human rights values and humanitarian organizations. They emphasize that this action is “targeted and systematic” and should be investigated by international human rights organizations. Sources emphasize that the Taliban, by removing women’s names from charters, are seeking a fundamental change in the structure and operations of these organizations.
Sources report the removal of women’s names from the literature of humanitarian organizations and the boards of directors of these organizations. Previously, the United Nations Security Council had criticized this action as harmful to humanitarian operations. The Council stated in a report that the Taliban had barred women from the boards of directors of organizations and from signing documents related to aid programs, which contradicts humanitarian principles.
This is happening while Mohammad Ali Jan Ahmad, the Taliban’s governor for Urozgan province, who recently stated that, according to the supreme leader of this group’s command, employing women in organizations is “absolutely prohibited.” According to him, this prohibition also applies to vaccinators and remote work for women. In an audio file attributed to the Taliban’s governor of Urozgan province, it is stated that no organization has the right to hire women for work or provide them with remuneration for remote work.
Mohammad Ali Jan Ahmad says in this audio recording that he recently had a meeting with Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada. He refers to the absolute prohibition of women’s activities in organizations as a command from the Taliban supreme leader and warns that any defiance of this order will face serious consequences.
The Taliban governor in this province emphasizes that violating this order and not adhering to Mullah Hibatullah’s command is unacceptable to him. He adds, “We will investigate this further. If organizations employ female staff, we will shut them down. There is no room, no logic, no room for negotiation, it is a decree.”
This local Taliban official in the southern region of the country continues, “Hiring women under any title is prohibited. organizations are not allowed to hire women. This prohibition covers any form of employment, including hiring vaccinators, public awareness campaigners, and even remote employment where women work from home and receive remuneration.”
The Taliban governor in Urozgan province has issued a warning to humanitarian organizations in this province, stating that based on the intelligence information of this group, some organizations have hired women and are providing them with income while they stay at home. He emphasizes that this action is a defiance of the Taliban supreme leader’s command and underscores that those who do not implement this order will face severe consequences.
It should be noted that the Taliban, On December 24, 2022, deprived women and girls of the right to work in domestic and international non-governmental organizations. The Ministry of Economy under the control of this group cited “failure to observe Islamic hijab” as the reason for this decision. Subsequently, this group also prohibited the employment of women in the United Nations agencies in Afghanistan.
The United Nations announced on April 3 this year that the Taliban had informed them that no woman would be allowed to work in the offices of this organization. In response to this decision, the United Nations had advised all its staff not to report to work until further notice.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) described this prohibition as “unlawful, a flagrant violation of women’s rights, a clear breach of humanitarian principles, and a violation of international laws.” However, over the past two years, the Taliban have issued more than 50 restrictive orders against women, claiming that the current conditions are not conducive to women working—a move that has been deemed “ridiculous and shameful” by the majority of the population of Afghanistan.
