UN Security Council criticizes Taliban ban on Afghan women's medical education
The IndependentFor free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The U.N. Security Council said Friday it was deeply concerned about the recent decision by Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers to ban women from medical education, which could leave millions of women and girls without health care in the future. In a resolution adopted unanimously Friday, the Security Council criticized not only the medical education ban but the Taliban’s “vice and virtue” directive issued in August that further restricts women’s rights, including prohibiting their voices from being heard in public. U.N. special envoy for Afghanistan, Roza Otunbayeva, told the council this week that women and girls are “facing progressive erasure from almost all walks of life.” She said the Taliban announcement in early September that female students would be barred from attending medical institutes and classes of higher education will have serious consequences. “If fully implemented, this would have deadly implications for women and girls in particular, but also for men and boys, entire communities and the country as a whole — by denying Afghans a functioning health care system that is open to all.” “I have strongly urged the de facto authorities to reconsider,” Otunbayeva said.