Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's polices of (a) the decision of the Taliban to prevent women from accessing the Band-e-Amir national park and (b) women's rights in Afghanistan.

Our Mission to Afghanistan has raised with the Taliban the issue of women being prevented from visiting Band-e-Amir national park. More broadly, we have repeatedly condemned the Taliban's decisions to restrict the rights of women and girls, including through UN Security Council and Human Rights Council resolutions and public statements. Without the full respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of women and girls, Afghanistan will not achieve sustainable economic and political development.

On 27 June, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister for South Asia hosted a meeting of Afghan women leaders to discuss the impact of the Taliban's restrictions on Afghan women as well as the inclusion of Afghan women in the future political process.