The UN Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution Thursday condemning the decision of the Taliban to ban Afghan women from working for the United Nations in Afghanistan, saying that it undermines human rights and humanitarian principles. The resolution also demands that Afghanistan's de facto leaders swiftly reverse their restrictions on women's access to education and work.
"These restrictions are unprecedented in the history of the United Nations, and they put the very presence of the UN in Afghanistan in jeopardy," United Arab Emirates Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh said of the most recent edict. "But as we all know, this is just the latest in a wave of restrictions that we have witnessed over the past year and a half."
The UAE and Japan drafted the resolution, which expresses "deep concern at the increasing erosion of respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of women and girls in Afghanistan by the Taliban." More than 90 countries co-sponsored the measure.
Resolution 2681 (2023) says the ban on Afghan women working for the UN and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Afghanistan "will negatively and severely impact" UN operations in the country, including the delivery of lifesaving aid and basic services.
"The Taliban's edicts are causing irreparable damage to Afghanistan," said US Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood. "They erase women and girls from society. They also move the Taliban further from its desire to normalize relations with the international community."
As the latest in a series of systematic restrictions and violations of the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan, the Taliban issued an order in early April 2023 banning women from working for the United Nations in the country.
The de facto authorities had already issued an edict on December 24, 2022, prohibiting all female employees of national and international non-governmental organizations from going to work. NGOs on the ground state that without their female staff, they cannot effectively reach children, women, and men in need.
Thursday's vote came as UN Secretary-General António Guterres plans to host a closed-door meeting of special envoys on Afghanistan from several countries in Doha, Qatar, on May 1-2 to discuss what should be done in the aftermath of the intensifying Taliban crackdown on women.
The Taliban reclaimed power in August 2021 as the United States and NATO troops withdrew from the country after almost two decades of involvement in the Afghan war.
The reclusive chief of the fundamentalist Taliban authorities, Hibatullah Akhundzada, has since imposed his strict interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia, to govern strife-torn Afghanistan. He has banned girls' education beyond the sixth grade and has barred most Afghan women from public life and work across the country.
Akhundzada last week again dismissed international calls for easing curbs on women's freedom, saying he would not allow any external interference in his Islamic governance, come what may.
"I have promised Allah that so long as I am alive, not a single law of infidelity will find a place in Afghanistan," the reclusive Taliban chief said last Friday in Kandahar in a defiant speech that marked the start of the three-day annual Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr.
Other countries have refused to recognize the Taliban as Afghanistan's legitimate rulers, citing bans on women's education and work, among other human rights concerns.
The resolution also recognizes and stresses the need to address "the dire economic and humanitarian situation" facing Afghanistan, including through efforts to restore the country's banking and financial systems.
The United States and other Western nations froze more than $9 billion in Afghan central bank foreign reserves after the Taliban takeover. Washington has since transferred a portion of the frozen reserves to a trust fund in Switzerland, to be used strictly for relief efforts.
Afghanistan remains in the grips of one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. Millions in the country are experiencing misery and hunger amid decades of conflict. The cumulative effects of violent conflict, internal displacement, drought and other natural disasters have drastically increased humanitarian needs throughout the South Asian country.
Nearly 20 million people in Afghanistan face acute hunger, including more than 6 million people in emergency levels of food insecurity. 4 million people are acutely malnourished, including 3.2 million children under the age of five.
28.3 million people - two-thirds of the country’s population - require humanitarian assistance in 2023, an increase of 16 % compared to the previous year. Among those in need are 15.3 million boys and girls. For 2023, the United Nations and humanitarian partner organizations have launched an appeal of 4.62 billion US Dollar to ease the plight of millions of people affected by the humanitarian crisis in the country.
Some information for this report provided by VOA.
Further information
Full text: Security Council Condemns Decision by Taliban to Ban Afghan Women from Working for United Nations in Afghanistan, Unanimously Adopting Resolution 2681 (2023), UN Security Council, press release, April 27, 2023
https://press.un.org/en/2023/sc15271.doc.htm
Full text: UN Security Council, Resolution 2681 (2023), adopted April 27, 2023
http://undocs.org/en/S/RES/2681(2023)