KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women, has urged the international community not to look away from the suffering of Afghan women, who continue to endure severe restrictions under Taliban rule.
Speaking at a special UN Security Council session on Afghanistan on Monday, Bahous said the systematic oppression of 20 million people solely for being women is “utterly unacceptable.”
“Afghan women have not given up. Nor can we. We must not look away. We must not grow used to their situation,” she told the council.
She said that since her last briefing nine months ago, the conditions for Afghan women and girls have only worsened, with no restrictions lifted.
Bahous shared findings from a recent UN Women survey that showed 78% of young Afghan women aged 18 to 29 now have no access to either education or employment.
She warned that the already narrow window allowing girls to study up to sixth grade is narrowing even further. Some girls, she said, now pray to fail their exams just to remain in school a little longer.
“Amidst this deepening crisis, Afghan women’s call for the world not to forget about them is too often unheard,” she added.
Bahous stressed that any engagement with the Taliban must not support or normalize their discriminatory policies and practices. “Afghan women must not be relegated to the margins,” she said. “The legitimacy and sustainability of any outcome depend on Afghan women’s meaningful, safe, full, and equal participation.”
She called on the Security Council to support efforts to hold the Taliban accountable, including through the establishment of an independent accountability mechanism, as recommended by Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan.
Bahous further called on donors to allocate at least 30% of all financial aid for Afghanistan to women-led organizations.
Speaking at the meeting, Afghanistan’s chargé d’affaires at the UN, Naseer Ahmad Faiq, urged the international community to use all available legal tools to hold the Taliban accountable for their actions.
He criticized the UN’s draft “Mosaic Framework” for lacking input from Afghan democratic forces, civil society, women, and political actors. “If the proposed draft Mosaic Framework is to serve as a pathway toward national reconciliation and international reintegration, it must be transformed into an inclusive, transparent, and accountable process,” Faiq said.
Faiq called for the appointment of a UN special envoy to help coordinate inclusive intra-Afghan dialogue and unify international efforts under UN leadership.
