The Taliban vow they would shut all NGOs that employ Afghan women.

The Taliban have announced that they will shut all national and international nonprofit organizations in Afghanistan that employ women, marking the latest attack on women’s rights since taking power in August 2021. The move came two years after they instructed NGOs to halt the hiring of Afghan women, purportedly because they did not wear the Islamic hijab properly.

The Economy Ministry issued a letter on Sunday night warning that failing to comply with the latest directive will result in NGOs losing their license to operate in Afghanistan. The United Nations said the space for women in Afghanistan has fallen substantially in the previous two years, and it urged the Taliban to lift the limitations.

“This really impacts how we can provide life saving humanitarian assistance to all the people in Afghanistan,” UN associate spokesperson Florencia Soto Nino-Martinez said. “And obviously we are very concerned by the fact that we are talking about a country where half the population’s rights are being denied and are living in poverty, and many of them, not just women, are facing a humanitarian crisis.”

The Economy Ministry stated that it is in charge of registering, coordinating, leading, and supervising all operations carried out by national and international organizations. According to the letter, the administration has once again ordered the suspension of all female employment in non-Taliban institutions.

It is the Taliban’s latest attempt to regulate or meddle in NGO activities. Earlier this month, the UN Security Council heard that a rising number of female Afghan humanitarian workers are being prohibited from completing their jobs, despite the fact that assistance work is still necessary. According to Tom Fletcher, a senior UN official, the number of aid groups reporting that their female or male employees were stopped by the Taliban’s morality police has risen.

The Taliban deny obstructing or interfering with relief groups’ efforts. They have already outlawed women from numerous employment and most public settings, as well as from pursuing education beyond sixth grade.

In another development, Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada has ordered that buildings not have windows that view onto areas where women could sit or stand. According to a four-clause regulation put on X late Saturday, the injunction applies to both new and existing structures. According to Soto Nino-Martinez, the United Nations has also urged for the repeal of this prohibition.

The regulation stated that windows should not overlook or gaze into places such as yards or kitchens. Where a window views into such an area, the property owner must “remove harm” by obscuring the view with a wall, fence, or screen.  The regulation said that municipalities and other authorities must monitor the construction of new structures to prevent having windows that view onto or over private homes.

A representative for the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing did not immediately respond to Akhundzada’s directives.