Afghan Prime Minister (PM) Mohammad Hassan Akhund has called on Muslim nations to be the first to officially recognise the government that seized power in Afghanistan in August.

“I call on Muslim countries to take the lead and recognise us officially. Then I hope we will be able to develop quickly”, Akhund said and stressed that it’s for the public.

No country has yet recognised the Taliban government. After they gained power, they promised rights for women but they are largely excluded from government employment, and secondary schools for girls are closed.

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According to the recently released report by United Nations (UN), jobs have dried up and women’s employment levels are extremely low by global standards.

The lack of work also threatens to worsen child labour levels in Afghanistan, where only 40 per cent of children aged five to 17 years old attend school. Moreover, the UN has warned that half the population is threatened with food shortages.

Last month, a special meeting of the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) was held to discuss the Afghanistan crisis. However, Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister (FM) was excluded from the official photograph taken during the event.