U.S., UK, EU among countries calling for Taliban to reverse ban on women aid workers

FILE PHOTO: Displaced Afghan women stand waiting to receive cash aid for displaced people in Kabul, Afghanistan, July 28, 2022. REUTERS/Ali Khara/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Foreign ministers of 12 countries and the EU, including the United States and Britain, urged Afghanistan's Taliban-led government on Wednesday to reverse its decision barring female employees of aid groups.

"The Taliban’s reckless and dangerous order barring female employees of national and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from the workplace puts at risk millions of Afghans who depend on humanitarian assistance for their survival," said the statement by the foreign ministers of the United States, Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the EU.