Malta has condemned the Taliban's ban on university education for women, expressing alarm over the "oppressive measures" taking place in Afghanistan.
The hardline Islamist rulers suspended university education for women on December 20 and has since banned them from working in non-governmental organisations.
“I joined other Foreign Ministers to strongly condemn the Taliban's new oppressive measures on university education for women & girls in Afghanistan," Ian Borg said on Thursday.
"Malta stands with all Afghans in their quest to exercise their human rights and freedoms”.
The UN Security Council has called on the Taliban "to swiftly reverse" the policies and practices targeting women and girls. It said it was "deeply alarmed" by the restrictions.
The G7 foreign ministers on Thursday called for the reversal of the ban on women working in the country’s aid sector.
The ministers said they were "gravely concerned that 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".
"We call on the Taliban to urgently reverse this decision," they said in the statement issued by Britain’s foreign ministry.
The World Health Organisation has said female staff are "key to every aspect" of the humanitarian response in Afghanistan. “Their participation in aid delivery is not negotiable and must continue.”
Six aid bodies suspended operations in Afghanistan in response to the ban.
They included Christian Aid, ActionAid, Save the Children, the Norwegian Refugee Council and CARE.
The International Rescue Committee, which provides emergency response in health, education and other areas and employs 3,000 women across Afghanistan, also said it was suspending services.
These recent bans follow a series of crackdowns by the Taliban since their return to power in August last year, despite initial assurances by the group that women would be allowed to continue exercising their rights to work and education.