Displaced Afghan women stand waiting to receive cash aid for displaced people in Kabul, Afghanistan, in July 2022.; Credit: REUTERS/Ali Khara

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - On Wednesday 28 December 2022, foreign ministers of 12 countries and the EU, including the United States and Britain, urged Afghanistan's Taliban-led government 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 organisations (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.