The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is deeply concerned about the decision of the Taliban to ban the education of women and girls in medical institutes in Afghanistan.
It expressed regret and said that the right to education of Afghan women and girls has once again faced a serious threat. In a statement on December 5, the organisation called the ban on women and girls studying in medical institutes “unexpected and deeply worrying”.
According to local media reports, the Taliban government’s Ministry of Public Health, Moin Bakhtur Rahman Sharafat, told them in a meeting with the heads of medical institutes in Kabul that after December 3rd there is a ban on the enrollment of female students in institutes (midwifery, dental prosthetics, nursing, laboratory) and ongoing classes.
However, the Taliban government has not yet officially confirmed this decision, which is said to have been ordered by the leader of this group, Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada.
According to the Ministry of Public Health, tens of thousands of girls were studying in private medical institutes in Kabul and several provinces.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation asked the Taliban that it should take action “based on the resolution of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation regarding the rights of women in Islam.”
Before the response of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to the ban on the education of women and girls in medical institutes by the Taliban, reactions were shown at the international level, including the United Nations, and the decision of the Taliban was condemned.
America’s response:
Continuing the reactions to this decision, Reena Amiri, the special representative of the US Department of State in the field of human rights, including Afghan women and girls, has also reacted and, in addition to condemning this decision, has called for its cancellation.
Mrs Amiri said that this ban on women and girls in the medical department by the Taliban will prevent people from accessing health services in Afghanistan, including women and mothers.
Mrs. Amiri called this action of the Taliban “inhumane” and said that this decision would seriously threaten the lives of Afghan women and children.
The special representative of the US Department of State also said that despite the pressures of the international community, the Taliban continued to violate women’s rights for more than three years, and during this period, they continuously committed gender-based violence in Afghanistan.
The Taliban government has continued discriminatory practices and policies.
Mrs. Amiri said, “The policies of the Taliban and the issuing of decrees make it clear that they [the Taliban] have no intention of making Afghanistan comply with international commitments”.
Some protesting women related to this movement have organized protest meetings in some provinces to condemn this decision of the Taliban in secret places due to security reasons.
They said, Afghan women have been deprived of their basic rights.
These protesting women have requested the actions of the United Nations Security Council and the International Criminal Court in the Hague against these actions of the Taliban and asked all countries to complain to the International Criminal Court (ICC) against the Taliban’s restrictions on Afghan women and girls.
After regaining power in August 2021, the Taliban has banned the education of girls above the primary period and has also banned the education of girls in universities.
Not only did the Taliban not respond positively to the international community’s continuous requests to allow girls and women’s education, but in August 2024, with the implementation of the Amar-bal-Marof(Quranic ayat) Law, it has legalized all its actions against the rights of women and girls and has expanded the restrictions on women and girls.
