Monthly Action Points (MAP) for the Security Council: December 2024

Afghanistan

Already the most serious women’s rights crisis in the world, the situation in Afghanistan is steadily worsening. The Taliban continue to impose systematic policies of escalating gender-based discrimination and segregation intended to erase women and girls from public life, including through the enactment of the law on “Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.” Women and girls are also unsafe at home, as the Taliban have dismantled all systems to respond to gender-based violence (GBV) and have compelled men to police the conduct of their female relatives. The Taliban continue to target activists, journalists, human rights defenders (HRDs) and women protestors, as well as women and girls who allegedly violate the Taliban’s dress code, arbitrarily detaining them without charge or access to legal representation. Women and girls face serious abuses in custody, including torture and sexual violence. Women and girls from minority ethnic and religious groups, including the Hazara community, and LBQ women face additional violence and discrimination; and women and girls with disabilities, or who support others with disabilities, face intersecting forms of discrimination. Experts warn that these widespread, systematic and grave violations of the rights of women, girls and LGBTIQ and gender-diverse people may amount to gender persecution, a crime against humanity. Afghan women and international experts increasingly describe the situation as gender apartheid and have called for its codification as a crime against humanity.

23.7 million people, almost 80% of whom are women and children, require gender-responsive humanitarian aid; 13.3 million people need services for GBV; and one-third of Afghans currently face acute food insecurity. Taliban restrictions continue to hinder the work of women-led organizations and women working in the aid sector, further reducing access to assistance for women, girls and women-headed households.

In discussing the situation in Afghanistan, Security Council members should:

• Demand that the Taliban immediately reverse all policies and practices that prevent the full enjoyment of all women’s human rights, in accordance with Afghanistan’s international obligations, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and relevant Security Council resolutions.
• Ensure that protection of women’s rights and the full, equal, meaningful and safe participation of diverse Afghan women and LGBTIQ people, especially women human rights defenders (WHRDs) and peacebuilders, are prioritized in all international discussions and outcomes about Afghanistan’s future, including the “Doha Process.”
• Call for accountability for all international crimes, including those committed against women, girls and LGBTIQ people, and support measures to investigate and prosecute those responsible, including through the International Criminal Court investigation, a potential case against Afghanistan for violations of CEDAW at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the creation of a UN accountability mechanism to document and preserve evidence.
• Ensure that the UN Special Envoy on Afghanistan, due to be appointed, and their team have deep expertise on human rights and women’s rights, and that they regularly and meaningfully engage with diverse Afghan women and LGBTIQ civil society, including WHRDs, to ensure that their views inform all aspects of the Envoy’s work.
• Call on the Taliban to ensure that all UN agencies, mechanisms and experts are able to fully discharge their mandates without hindrance. Continue to demand the immediate reversal of the ban on Afghan women working for the UN and NGOs, which violates both the UN Charter and CEDAW.
• Urge all humanitarian actors and donors to ensure safe, gender-responsive and non-discriminatory humanitarian delivery to all Afghans in need. Support women’s full and equal participation and leadership in humanitarian action and decision-making. Allocate increased flexible and direct funding to women-led local and national civil society and humanitarian organizations, ensure that intersectional gender analysis grounded in meaningful consultation with women and girls informs the crisis response and adequately fund protection and GBV response.
• Call for all parties, including the Taliban and other armed groups, to respect international human rights and humanitarian law; immediately stop targeting HRDs, peacebuilders and journalists, and release all who have been arbitrarily arrested and detained.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

The situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) remains one of serious concern. More than 25 million people, half of whom are women and girls, require humanitarian assistance. More than 6.9 million people have been displaced, primarily in eastern DRC, due to violence and insecurity, including attacks on IDP camps, medical facilities and aid workers. Conflict and displacement have also aggravated the spread of infectious diseases such as measles, cholera and mpox.

Despite the ceasefire announced in July 2024 between Rwanda and the DRC, women and girls in the DRC continue to face protection risks. In addition to exacerbating displacement and food insecurity, the conflict has also led to record rates of GBV. Limited humanitarian assistance and livelihood opportunities have pushed many women and girls to resort to survival sex, and have also increased rates of child marriage: an estimated 37% of girls in the DRC are forcibly married before age 18. Sexual violence remains rampant in conflict zones and in detention, and healthcare services for survivors, including sexual and reproductive health care, are severely lacking for IDP communities. At the same time, the DRC government continues to violate human rights and undermine democracy including through the arbitrary detention of HRDs and reinstatement of the death penalty.

Council members should urge the DRC authorities and all armed groups to cease all threats, violence and reprisals against civilians, including IDPs, WHRDs and peacebuilders. Council members should also continue to support the ongoing Luanda Process; further, they should demand the full, equal, meaningful and safe participation of diverse women throughout. Following MONUSCO’s withdrawal from South Kivu, it is imperative to prioritize protection of civilians, sustained humanitarian access, increased humanitarian funding including to women-led organizations and respect for international law. Sustained consultation with diverse women leaders, peacebuilders and HRDs is critical for informing policymaking in order to protect civilians and safeguard women’s human rights during MONUSCO’s transition.

Israel / Palestine

Continuing widespread violations of international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) must be understood in the context of Israel’s unlawful occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which impacts diverse Palestinian women and girls.

Israel’s military offensive in Gaza since October 2023 has now killed over 44,000 Palestinians, injured over 104,000, and forcibly displaced 90% of Gaza’s population. The constant bombardment of hospitals and ongoing blockade of Gaza have decimated the healthcare system, violating women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights and putting mothers and newborns at risk of significant physical and mental harm. It also risks outbreaks of infectious diseases including polio and hepatitis A. The risk of famine persists across Gaza, especially in the north, exposing women and marginalized groups to additional health consequences and protection risks. This already catastrophic humanitarian situation is further threatened by Israel’s recent adoption of two laws heavily restricting the vital operations of UNRWA. Violence has also escalated since 7 October in the West Bank, where at least 736 Palestinians have been killed, and over 4,740 displaced by Israeli authorities’ demolition or confiscation of their homes. Arrests of Palestinians have surged, and Palestinian detainees, including women and girls, reportedly face torture, including sexual violence, in detention.

The Security Council must:

• Demand an immediate, full and complete ceasefire in accordance with Resolution 2735 (2024).
• Demand all parties comply with their obligations under international law, including stopping all attacks on civilians, civilian infrastructure and humanitarian actors.
• Ensure full, immediate, safe and unhindered humanitarian access into Gaza, as required by Resolutions 2728 and 2720 (2023); and act to prevent the implementation of legislation restricting the operations of UNRWA.
• Demand an immediate halt to the transfer of weapons, parts and ammunition to Israel and Palestinian armed groups while there is risk that they are used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international law.
• Demand the humane treatment and immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and all forcibly detained and imprisoned without charge, in accordance with international humanitarian law.
• Call on the Government of Israel to immediately and fully comply with all provisional measures ordered by the ICJ to protect Palestinians in Gaza from acts of genocide, including lifting the blockade of Gaza. All Member States must uphold their obligation to prevent genocide.
• Demand an immediate end to the forcible transfer of civilians in violation of international humanitarian law and an immediate end to all measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of Palestinian territory, including immediate cessation of Israeli settlement activities.
• Urge all parties to cooperate with independent, impartial investigations, including the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel, to monitor, collect and verify evidence, and report on human rights violations and abuses, including GBV, committed by all parties on and since 7 October in Israel, the OPT and Lebanon; further, ensure that all justice and accountability efforts are human rights-based, survivor-centered and non-discriminatory and designed and implemented in partnership with survivors.
• Demand respect for the rights of diverse Palestinian women, including WHRDs, peace activists and journalists, in line with international law, and demand their full, equal, meaningful and safe participation in all efforts to build peace.