EU denounces Taliban’s ban on medical education for Afghani women

Several institutions that provide medical courses for women and girls have been instructed to close by the Taliban until further notice, while female midwifery and nursing trainees were ordered not to attend classes on Wednesday, according to media reports.

The ban is believed to affect about 17,000 female trainees across the country. The Taliban have neither confirmed the order nor responded to the reports.

The EU said the Taliban’s latest reported decision represented another “appalling violation” of fundamental human rights and an “unjustifiable attack” on women’s education in Afghanistan, and urged the country’s rulers to reverse the policy.

“The European Union expresses its strong concerns over this decision and its far-reaching implication, including the deepening of the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and the exacerbation of the suffering of its people,” it said in a statement.

“If women are not trained as staff, the mortality rate of mothers and children will increase in remote areas,” said the official, who spoke anonymously for fear of reprisals.

“There will not be enough staff to provide services to female patients,” the official added. “Those NGOs that provide services in distant provinces and districts are still facing a shortage of doctors, midwives, nurses and other female staff.”