Women protest against Taliban rule in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 13, 2022 (Photo: Reuters)
Afghanistan's Ministry of Higher Education announced today (Tuesday) that it will ban women from studying at universities in the country until further notice.
The ministry, which is part of the Taliban government, sent a letter to public and private universities and demanded that they immediately suspend access to female students.
The new restriction imposed by the radical Islamist organization on women further reduces the chance that the international community will recognize the Taliban government, which took over the country in August last year with the withdrawal of foreign forces led by the United States.
Washington and other Western governments have made it clear that one of the requirements for such recognition is a change in women's education policies in Afghanistan, which have made progress in the 20 years of pro-Western rule in Kabul but are now subject to restrictions similar to those that characterized the previous Taliban regime.
In March, the Taliban backed away from reopening all-girls high schools.
The suspension of women's studies in academic institutions was announced at the same time as the UN Security Council meeting on the situation in Afghanistan, and representatives of Western countries condemned the decision.
"The Taliban cannot expect to be a legitimate member of the international community until it respects the rights of all Afghans, especially human rights and basic freedoms of women and girls," said US Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations, Robert Wood.
The UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan, Rosa Otunbayeva, said at the hearing that the closing of the girls' schools had "undermined" the Taliban government's relationship with the international community.
"As long as girls remain excluded from school and the actual authorities continue to ignore other stated concerns of the international community, we remain at a dead end," she clarified.
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