{
  "id": 439200,
  "title": "President Cyril Ramaphosa speaks out against the Taliban's ban on Afghan women",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/10/president-cyril-ramaphosa-speaks-out-against-the-talibans-ban-on",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-08-10T05:14:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "IOL",
    "slug": "iol",
    "url": "https://iol.co.za/mercury/news/2026-08-10-president-cyril-ramaphosa-speaks-out-against-the-talibans-ban-on-afghan-women/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "President Cyril Ramaphosa denounced the Taliban's prohibition of Afghan women from attending secondary school, universities, and participating in public life during a commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the 1956 Women's March. The March, themed \"empowered women empower nations,\" was held under the leadership of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai, who shared her inspiring story of courage. Yousafzai, who was shot by the Taliban in 2012 for advocating girls' education, spoke of the impact of the 1956 women's march, which mirrored the situation in Afghanistan where women now face imprisonment for defying the regime. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warns that Afghanistan could lose over 25,000 women teachers and health workers by 2030 if restrictions persist, and that women's share of civil service jobs has dropped from 21% to 17.7% since 2023. Ramaphosa emphasized that no ideology can justify reducing women to lesser human beings and urged the international community to acknowledge the Taliban's actions as a form of gender apartheid.",
  "summary": "At the Union Buildings, President Cyril Ramaphosa condemned the Taliban's exclusion of Afghan women from education and public life, alongside Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": "President Ramaphosa's denunciation of the Taliban's ban on Afghan women underscores the international community's growing recognition of the regime's actions as a form of gender apartheid.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}