- 43 countries urged the Taliban to immediately lift all restrictions on the rights of women and girls.
- Taliban policies have effectively erased women from public life, denying education, healthcare, and employment to millions, including 2.4 million girls.
- Women who resist face arrest, arbitrary detention, and reprisals, while over 400,000 Afghans were forcibly returned this year amid dire humanitarian conditions.
More than 40 countries on Wednesday called on the Taliban government to immediately remove all restrictions on the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.
Last month marked five years since the Taliban returned to power and imposed what the UN called “suffocating restrictions” on Afghans, especially women.
Around 2.4 million Afghan girls and young women are currently deprived of secondary education, according to UNESCO.
“Since August 2021, the Taliban have implemented a policy of gender-based segregation, virtually erasing women and girls from public life and severely restricting their access to education, healthcare and employment,” said Jerome Bonnafont, France’s representative to the UN, speaking on behalf of the 43 signatory countries.
They include numerous European countries, as well as Liberia, the United Arab Emirates, Mexico and Japan.
“Women who refuse or are perceived to refuse to comply with these restrictions face arrest and arbitrary detention,” Bonnafort continued, speaking ahead of a Security Council meeting on the situation. “Their supporters and perceived critics of the Taliban rule also face detention and reprisals.”
The signatories urged Taliban authorities “to immediately lift all restrictions on the rights of women and girls, in all their diversity, and to put an end to all human rights violations.”
Despite the country’s dire humanitarian situation, with much of the population living in poverty, forced returns to Afghanistan are continuing.
More than 400,000 Afghans have been forcibly returned this year, according to the United Nations, primarily from Iran and Pakistan.
