Since taking power two years ago, the Taliban have undermined women’s human rights in both policy and practice by codifying systematic gender-based discrimination across nearly every aspect of public and private life. As reinforced by UN human rights experts, the ongoing, escalating, systematic, and grave human rights violations directed at women and girls may amount to gender persecution, a crime against humanity, and further could be characterized as gender apartheid, as the Taliban “appear to be governing by systemic discrimination with the intention to subject women and girls to total domination.” The Security Council must prioritize the protection of women’s human rights and the full, equal, and meaningful participation and leadership of diverse Afghan women, including civil society and women’s rights organizations, in all fora, at all levels and at all stages of decision-making throughout all discussions, as well as in any outcomes. During forthcoming meetings, Council members should:

• Reiterate the indispensable role of Afghan women and state their unequivocal support for the protection and promotion of the full range of women’s human rights in accordance with international human rights law; strongly condemn the implementation of regressive policies that violate those rights and call for their immediate reversal; demand the full, equal and meaningful participation of women in all peace and political processes, including any meetings facilitated by the UN; and express unwavering support for the work of human rights defenders, peacebuilders, and civil society representatives.
• Condemn and call for the immediate reversal of the ban on Afghan women working for the United Nations and non-governmental organizations, including humanitarian organizations, in violation of the UN Charter and CEDAW, and call for all UN agencies and other humanitarian actors to abide by the principles of non-discrimination to ensure principled humanitarian delivery to all Afghans in need, in all parts of the country, and to ensure women’s participation and leadership in humanitarian action, free of restrictions or reprisals.
• Call for accountability for all human rights violations and support measures to investigate and prosecute those responsible for all violations of human rights, including gender persecution and attacks on journalists and diverse human rights defenders, including those advocating for the rights of women and girls, marginalized ethnic and religious groups, people with disabilities, and LGBTQI+ people.
• Call for all parties, including the Taliban and other armed groups, to respect international human rights and humanitarian law and immediately end the continued targeting, threats to, and killings of human rights defenders, peacebuilders, journalists, protestors, and all other civil society representatives.
• Call for UNAMA’s mandate to be fully implemented, particularly those aspects related to: advocating for the protection and promotion of women’s rights, including by calling for the Taliban to uphold their obligations under CEDAW; monitoring and reporting on human rights, including violations, abuses, and reprisals against women, human rights defenders, journalists, and humanitarian workers, and all forms of gender-based violence (GBV); meaningful engagement with diverse Afghan women’s organizations and networks; and ensuring the transparent, non-discriminatory and equitable distribution of humanitarian aid.
• Call for the independent assessment on Afghanistan mandated by Resolution 2679 (2023) to be carried out in close consultation with Afghan women and civil society, both inside and outside of the country, and for it to prioritize and explicitly address and call for the protection and promotion of the human rights of diverse Afghan women and girls, as well as the critical importance of their full, equal, and meaningful participation in any decision-making regarding the future of Afghanistan.