The UN Security Council has called on the Taliban in Afghanistan to immediately lift the restrictions they have imposed on women’s rights in the country. A corresponding resolution was passed unanimously.
The members of the most powerful UN body unanimously urged the radical Islamic rulers in Afghanistan to end their anti-women policies.
The Security Council also condemned the decision that women should no longer be allowed to work for the United Nations in the country. “Such restrictions are unprecedented in the history of the United Nations and they jeopardize the presence of UN agencies in Afghanistan,” said UAE Ambassador to the UN Lana Zaki Nusseibeh.
Taliban: No women in non-governmental organizations
At the end of last year, the Taliban banned Afghan women from working in non-governmental organizations – with the exception of the areas of health, education and nutrition for the time being. However, the de facto rulers of the country have since deleted this exception as well. According to the resolution, this is just the latest in a series of curtailments of women’s rights.
In adopting this resolution, the Security Council is sending an unequivocal message of condemnation and a clear call for an urgent turnaround – not just of this latest ban, but of all others who are undermining the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.
More than 90 member states of the United Nations would support the binding resolution of the Security Council – countries above all from the Muslim world. The United Arab Emirates introduced the resolution together with Japan. China and Russia also voted in favor of the move.
“Indispensable role” in society and economy
The statement highlights the “essential role” women and girls play in Afghan society and the economy. As long as women are kept away from working life, things will look bleak for Afghanistan’s economy – as a recent report by the UN Development Program showed. According to this, the country’s economic output has collapsed by more than 20 percent since the Taliban took power in August 2021.
The current resolution calls on the Taliban to give women and girls back access to education and work, freedom of movement and equal participation in public life. The message to the Taliban is very clear, said British UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward: “There is no justification for what you are doing to women and girls in your country!”
Like other countries, Woodward pledged continued support to those in need in Afghanistan through UN agencies. “We will not abandon the women and girls in Afghanistan.”