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[ad_1] The U.N. Security Council on Tuesday called for the full, equal and meaningful participation of women and girls in Afghanistan, denouncing a ban by the Taliban-led administration on women attending universities or working for humanitarian aid groups. According to international media reports, in a statement agreed by consensus, the 15-member council said the ban on women and girls attending high school and universities in Afghanistan "represents an increasing erosion for the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms." U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Twitter on Tuesday that the restrictions were "unjustifiable human rights violations and must be revoked." He added: "Actions to exclude and silence women and girls continue to cause immense suffering and major setbacks to the potential of the Afghan people." The university ban on women was announced as the Security Council in New York met on Afghanistan last week. Girls

[ad_1] Since seizing power in August 2021, the Taliban government has barred girls and women from high schools and universities, banned them from parks, funfairs and gyms, and ordered them to cover up in public. Women have also mostly been barred from working for the United Nations or NGOs, and thousands have been sacked from government jobs or are being paid to stay at home. Mohammad Sadeq Akif Muhajir, spokesman for the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, would not say why the new order had been given. "Once they are closed then we will share the reason with the media," he told an international news agency. He said the businesses had been given time to close their affairs so they could use up their stock without incurring losses. A copy of the order seen by an international news agency said it was "based on verbal instruction from the supreme leader". Beauty parlours mushroomed across Kabul and other Afghan cities in the 20 y