Cherie Blair has moved to raise awareness of the plight of women in Afghanistan.

Making a rare foray into frontline politics, she joined senior female ministers in condemning the Taliban's treatment of women.

Speaking at a press conference inside Number 10, the prime minister's wife said the Northern Alliance should not ignore human rights issues. She said that women in Afghanistan should have a right to a career and healthcare

Joined by five Afghan women who used to teach and work in the country, as well as education secretary Estelle Morris and international development secretary Clare Short, Blair said it was vital to ensure that the plight of women and girls was not forgotten.

"All communities and the wider societies in which they exist work more smoothly and productively when women are involved and have a voice. But for women to make that contribution they need opportunities, they need self esteem and they need esteem in the eyes of their society," said Blair.

"The women who are here today prove that women in Afghanistan still have a spirit in them that belies their unfair, down-trodden image. We here need to help free that spirit and give them back that voice of hope so they can help build that better Afghanistan that we all want to see."

Downing Street had earlier defended Blair's decision to intervene publicly. A spokesman said there was "nothing wrong" with the prime minister's wife lending her support to prominent causes.

"We feel it is important to underline just what has happened, what the situation has been like for women and girls within Afghanistan," said the spokesman.

"Their human rights have been denied, people have been executed in football stadiums in front of cheering crowds, girls have had to be educated in secret. There is a story that we have to keep telling."

Blair's intervention mirrors a similar move by America's first lady Laura Bush. She spoke out over the weekend about the plight of women under the Taliban.

"That regime is now in retreat across much of the country, and the people of Afghanistan, especially women, are rejoicing," she said. "Afghan women know, through hard experience, what the rest of the world is discovering: The brutal oppression of women is a central goal of the terrorists."

Number 10 said there was co-ordination between the two first ladies - saying it formed a part of "concerted effort to lift the veil on both sides of the Atlantic".