The situation in Afghanistan continues to deteriorate with 95% of people experiencing insufficient food consumption and 1 million children at risk of dying from malnutrition. Child labor, child marriage, selling children, and child recruitment are  common means by which households cope with the economic crisis; and violence, threats, and intimidation targeting civilians – including women, LGBTIQ+ individuals, ethnic and religious minorities, former government officials, journalists, and protestors – has increased and civic space is almost entirely closed. Women activists, human rights defenders, and civil society leaders have been arbitrarily arrested and detained after engaging in protests, with some being released only weeks later, if at all. Since the Taliban takeover, women’s rights in Afghanistan have been rolled back in virtually every area, with the imposition of restrictions on freedom of movement, access to education and health care, and employment, and the dismantling of critical institutions such as the Afghan Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MOWA) and the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC). There are reports of increased gender-based violence, including forced marriage and domestic violence, and lack of access to services for survivors of GBV, including the closure of safe houses. In this context, the Security Council must ensure that gender equality and human rights, including women’s rights, is firmly at the center of the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) by:

• Ensuring the mission maintains its a robust mandate to protect and promote women’s and human rights through regular engagement with diverse civil society and continues to mainstream gender across its work, including through monitoring and reporting on violations, including reprisals, and other violence targeting civilians – including human rights defenders and women in public spaces – grounded in a survivor-centered approach; and supporting the implementation of international human rights treaties, specifically CEDAW.
• Emphasizing that the mission should focus on promoting inclusive governance processes that are free from all forms of discrimination – including based on gender – and supporting the full, safe, equal, and meaningful participation and leadership of women across all peace, security, humanitarian and peacebuilding processes; and regularly consult with diverse civil society, including women’s groups throughout all mission activities.
• Reinforcing that the mission’s provision of humanitarian assistance must be in accordance with international humanitarian law and in partnership with all humanitarian organizations (local and international) and personnel, including women humanitarian workers.

Finally, all Member States should advocate for the necessary capacity, including through a strong and well-resourced gender unit and senior gender expertise, in relevant decision-making processes in the General Assembly Fifth Committee and elsewhere, to ensure the UNAMA can carry out its critical functions related to the protection and promotion of women’s rights.