Maia Sandu, as the President of Moldova, joined the female heads of countries in their call for the Taliban to refrain from violence against women and to uphold and advance the rights of girls and women in Afghanistan, IPN reports, quoting foreign media. The women leaders, in the statement initiated by Slovakian President Zuzana Čaputová and the Icelandic Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir, urged the international community to pay close attention to the situation and rights of those that are currently among the most vulnerable in Afghanistan.

After the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, the militants promised to uphold girls and women’s rights “within the framework of sharia,” according to the group’s first news conference in mid-August. However, women have all but disappeared from public spaces and there have been reports of women being denied entry to offices.

Girls could not attend school and women could not hold jobs or leave homes without a male guardian during the Taliban’s last stint in power between 1996 and 2001, said politico.eu.

“We are very worried about the status of women and children,” Henrietta Fore, chief of UNICEF the United Nations Childrens Fund, told CNBC on Tuesday.

Betides Maia Sandu, Čaputová and Jakobsdóttir were joined by the Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen, the Prime Minister of Estonia Kaja Kallas, the Prime Minister of Finland Sanna Marin, the President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili, the President of Greece Katerina Sakellaropoulou, the Prime Minister of Lithuania Ingrida Šimonytė, the Prime Minister of Norway Erna Solberg and the Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern.

Earlier, IPN reported that the MPs of the Bloc of the Communists and the Socialists said the citizens are concerned about the fact that the Republic of Moldova subscribed to statements by which it undertook to host refugees from Afghanistan. BCS MP Gricore Novac wondered how many refugees Chisinau intends to welcome, where they will be accommodated, what sources will be used, etc...