The spokesman for the secretary-general of the United Nations condemned the Taliban-led Afghan administration's decision to suspend women's access to universities on Tuesday.

"The secretary-general reiterates that the denial of education not only violates the equal rights of women and girls but will have a devastating impact on the country's future," Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the secretary-general, said, adding the secretary-general urges the Taliban authorities to ensure women's equal access to education.

Earlier, the UN envoy for Afghanistan also expressed her sadness over the Taliban banning women from universities.

"I am very saddened by the news that was widely reported this morning that the Taliban minister of higher education has banned women from attending universities. This is detrimental for women but also for Afghanistan more widely," said Roza Otunbayeva, the UN secretary-general's special representative and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, in a statement. "As I said earlier, this decision, if true, is devastating."

The news of the ban broke while Otunbayeva was in New York to brief the Security Council on the situation in Afghanistan.

She said that she briefed the Security Council on a number of human rights concerns that had been expressed to the Taliban de facto authorities.

"Ever since the Taliban banned girls' secondary education in March of this year, the council has been unanimous in condemning this decision. So many young women lost the whole academic year and now another harsh decision has been taken to ban university education," she said.

"I regret that the Taliban do not seem to think about the future of Afghanistan and how women can contribute to the economy, education and culture."

Otunbayeva said the UN is seeking further information and clarifications about this decision.