UN urges Taliban not to block women's medical training

The UN urges the Taliban to reconsider banning women from medical training, warning of dire health impacts.

KABUL:

The UN mission to Afghanistan on Wednesday urged the Taliban government to reconsider a reported plan to ban women from attending medical training institutes, in the latest move to restrict women's education.

A health ministry source and managers from private medical institutes, which offer training in subjects such as midwifery and nursing, told AFP on Tuesday the public health ministry had issued a directive from the Taliban supreme leader to suspend women's attendance.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said it was "extremely concerned" by the reports and urged the Taliban government to "reconsider implementing" the rule.

"If implemented, the reported directive poses further restrictions on women and girls' rights to education and access to healthcare," a statement said.

"Ultimately, it will have a detrimental impact on Afghanistan's healthcare system and on the country's development."

A senior health ministry source told AFP the ban would squeeze an already suffering health sector.

"We are already short of professional medical and para-medical staff and this would result in further shortages," the source said.

The European Union on Wednesday also urged the Taliban to "reverse this discriminatory policy", calling it an "an unjustifiable attack on women's access to education".

Amnesty International warned a ban would "have devastating consequences for the health of women in the country that has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world".