Minute Mirror (Pakistan): In Nangarhar province of Afghanistan, the education department has instructed male employees to keep beards and female employees to wear hijab. The Directorate of Education warned employees that employees who do not follow the order can be dismissed from service. Click here to read more (external link).
The Taliban bought Twitter’s $8 a month blue ticks. They appear to have been removed after outrage.
Business Insider: The Twitter accounts of at least two Taliban officials were sporting blue ticks on Monday, per the BBC. That sparked an outrage and by Tuesday, the ticks appear to have been removed. Governments around the world the world are still grappling with whether to recognize the hardline Islamist regime. Click here to read more (external link).
Last two Sikh’s Holy Scriptures arrive in New Delhi from Afghanistan
Khaama: The last two holy religious scriptures of Sikhism (Saroops) of the Guru Granth Sahib arrived from Afghanistan’s Kabul in Delhi Wednesday. The two Sikh’s Holy Scriptures were carried out by three Afghan Sikhs from Kabul to New Delhi by a non-Scheduled Kam Air flight. Six Holy Scriptures were successfully flown into New Delhi on August 24, 2021, and December 10, 2021, in two groups. These were transported on a particular evacuation flight of Afghan Sikhs from Kabul. Click here to read more (external link).
Some Afghan Female NGO Staff Resume Work Amid Taliban Ban
Akmal Dawi
VOA News
January 17, 2023
Hundreds of Afghan women employed by international non-governmental organizations have started returning to work despite a Taliban order banning their work.
At least three NGOs — CARE International, Save the Children, and International Rescue Committee — have confirmed resumption of humanitarian operations in Afghanistan with Afghan women on staff.
“CARE will be resuming its health and nutrition operations in Afghanistan after obtaining the necessary assurances from the Ministry of Public Health that our female staff will be able to carry out their work safely and unfettered, both in community-based and support roles,” the international humanitarian agency said in a statement on Monday.
“We have received clear, reliable assurances from relevant authorities that our female staff will be safe and can work without obstruction,” Save the Children said in a statement on Sunday.
The NGOs had suspended their activities following a December 24 edict by the Taliban barring Afghan women from NGO work.
The Taliban gave no further explanation for their highly controversial edict that was widely condemned as violating women’s rights. On January 13, the U.N. Security Council called on the Taliban to immediately reverse the ban and allow women to return to work.
The Islamist regime has also barred women and girls from secondary schools and universities.
Aid agencies had warned that a suspension of relief activities, caused by the Taliban’s ban on women’s work, would push Afghanistan deeper into a humanitarian catastrophe.
Almost 19 million Afghans, out of the country’s estimated 36 million population, face critical food insecurity and more than 29 million people need humanitarian assistance, according to aid agencies.
Limited return
Women’s return to work in Afghanistan has been limited to the health sector and some educational activities, NGOs say.
The Taliban’s ban remains active on women’s work in other relief activities such as sanitation, food distribution and economic recovery.
“Women make up 50% of our workforce… [the] majority of our programs remain on hold,” Save the Children said.
“Without female staff at all levels and across all sectors, we cannot accurately assess needs and deliver aid and programs at the necessary scale,” the International Rescue Committee said.
On Tuesday, Amina Mohammed, U.N. deputy secretary general, arrived in Kabul to talk with Taliban authorities about lifting the ban on women’s work.
Some aid agencies have called on Western diplomats to return to Afghanistan and press Taliban on critical issues such as women’s rights.
“Based on our religious principles and values, we are ready to cooperate in any field,” Zabihullah Mujahid, Taliban’s chief spokesman, tweeted last week.
Taliban officials have previously said the group’s bans on women’s work and education were temporary.
Tolo News in Dari – January 17, 2023
Old Man Dies After Being Tortured by Taliban in Panjshir
8am: An old man died in a hospital after being severely tortured by the Taliban in Panjshir province. Sources on Tuesday, January 17, confirmed to Hasht-e Subh that Khal Mohammad died of his injuries in a hospital, adding that he had been arrested by the Taliban in Omarz village about 15 days ago. Sources detailed the Taliban had taken Khal Mohammad to Panjshir emergency hospital after severely torturing him. But the man died on Monday, January 16, of his bad health condition and critical injuries. Click here to read more (external link).
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Pakistan ‘concerned’ about rising militancy along border with Afghanistan: UN envoy
Ariana: Pakistan has expressed concern over what it says is an increase in militancy along the border with Afghanistan. Speaking to Newsweek, Pakistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations Munir Akram warned that unless the economic situation in Afghanistan improves, the Islamic Emirate could begin to lose members to more militant groups including IS-K (Daesh). He said Pakistan is determined to deal with militant groups such as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Balochistan Liberation Army and the regional ISIS Khorasan (Daesh) branch internally. Click here to read more (external link).
Save The Children Resumes Some Operations In Afghanistan After Getting Assurances On Female Staff
RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi: The international Save the Children organization has resumed operations in some parts of Afghanistan after it received assurances that its female staff would be able to work safely in the country. “We’re restarting some activities in Afghanistan… where we’ve received clear, reliable assurances from relevant authorities that our female staff will be safe and can work without obstruction,” the group said in a statement. Save the Children and other aid groups suspended operations in the country after the ruling Taliban banned women working in the country late last year. Click here to read more (external link).
Kabul’s mannequins hooded and masked under Taliban rules
AP: Under the Taliban, the mannequins in women’s dress shops across the Afghan capital of Kabul are a haunting sight, their heads cloaked in cloth sacks or wrapped in black plastic bags. Click here to read more (external link).
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