EU reacts to Taliban halting Afghan women, girls from nursing, others

By Blessing Chinagorom

European Union Commission has expressed concerns over the Taliban’s decision ordering all private and public educational institutions in Afghanistan to suspend medical education for women and girls.

In a statement released by Commission on Tuesday, stated that this decision represents yet again another appalling violation of fundamental human rights and unjustifiable attack on women’s access to education in Afghanistan.

It also expressed concern ove its far- reaching implication, including deepening of the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and the exacerbation of the suffering of its people.
The Union said, “Women’s participation in education and in the workforce is not just a matter of equality, it is essential for the self- sufficiency, development, and prosperity of any nation.

It urged the Taliban to reverse this discriminatory policy and uphold their commitments under international law, including ensuring equal access to education and to basic healthcare for all Afghans. 

Report has that this week the Taliban in Afghanistan closed one of the last remaining loopholes in their ban on education for older girls and women by forbidding them from attending institutions offering medical education.
The Taliban have also banned women in some provinces from being treated by male medical professionals, which means that this new decree, halting the training of new female healthcare workers.

Which this will result in unnecessary pain, misery, sickness, and death for the women forced to go without health care, as there won’t be female healthcare workers to treat them.

The Taliban’s supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, issued this order, which was announced at a meeting of the Ministry of Public Health on Monday, summon directors of private medical training institutions to be instructed about the new order.

In September 2021, the Taliban stopped girls from attending secondary school beyond sixth grade. In December 2022, they banned girls and women from attending higher education.
Since regaining control of the country on August 15, 2021, the Taliban have imposed rules that systematically violate the rights of women and girls in most aspects of their lives, including not only right to education.

But also to freedom of movement and speech, to work, to live free from violence, to participate in public life, and to access health care. Women and girls can’t even go to a gym or walk in a park.

Women’s rights defenders who protested against these rights violations, along with their family members, faced grave retaliation from the Taliban, including physical assault, arbitrary detention, sexual violence, torture, and enforced disappearance.

While these rights defenders and human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, have called for the Taliban to be held accountable for their crimes against women and girls as part of more comprehensive efforts to address impunity for grave crimes in Afghanistan.