KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has warned that the Taliban’s restrictions on women’s education, employment, and healthcare are causing long-term damage, stressing the urgent need for action.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, UNAMA shared that Roza Otunbayeva, the head of the mission, participated in a workshop organized by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Kabul. The discussions focused on the critical situation facing Afghan women and girls under the Taliban’s rule.
“Important and constructive discussions with OIC on the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan, where restrictions on education, work, and access to health are causing long-term damage,” UNAMA said in the post, emphasizing that “More engagement, and practical action, is urgently needed.”
Since returning to power, the Taliban has imposed harsh restrictions on women’s rights, including banning them from education, work, and public life. Under Taliban rule, Afghanistan has become the most oppressive country in the world for women and the only country where women and girls are prohibited from attending school and pursuing higher education.
UN experts, human rights organizations, and Afghan activists have condemned the Taliban’s actions as “gender apartheid” and are urging the international community to recognize these policies as crimes against humanity.
In a related and significant development last month, International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan filed an application for arrest warrants against the Taliban’s Supreme Leader and Chief Justice, citing evidence of their involvement in gender-based persecution in Afghanistan. Prosecutor Khan also said that similar actions will be pursued against other senior Taliban leaders in the near future.
