UNITED NATIONS: A senior UN official in Kabul has said that Afghanistan remains the “most repressive country” in the world for women under the Taliban.
UN Special Representative and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) Roza Isakovna Otunbayeva strongly condemned recent Taliban rulings that have further eroded Afghan women’s rights.
However, she also urged the world community to preserve “whatever political space exists” for free discussions with Afghanistan’s leaders, warning of rapid deterioration of humanitarian and economic conditions across the country.
Following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, the UN pledged to “stay and deliver,” while calling for united support for the country’s people.
Initial interactions with the de facto Taliban authorities were largely positive. However, recent decisions, such as the ban on women pursuing higher education and working for non-governmental organizations, have been widely condemned.
In her address to the 15-member Council, the UN special representative expressed remorse that on International Women’s Day she had few encouraging words for Afghanistan’s women.
She stated that at a time when [the country] requires all of its human resources to recover from decades of war, half of its prospective doctors, scientists, journalists, and politicians are being kept at home, their dreams crushed, and their talents confiscated. “Women working, studying, and traveling without male companions are currently prohibited in Afghanistan, she added.
“In particular, a December 2022 ban on women working for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) – including groups that deliver critical humanitarian aid – has had severe consequences for both the population reliant on that aid and the Taliban’s relationship with the international community.”
UN expressed hope
The UN special representative expressed hope that the Taliban would listen to the international community’s united position and reverse those rulings, as well as others that were further undermining women’s rights.
She also urged the international community to develop an agenda for discussions with the Taliban, including issues important to them, as the foundation of a gradual confidence-building process, citing Afghanistan’s dire economic and humanitarian prospects, as well as the need for access.
The country is still experiencing the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with two-thirds of the population, or 28 million people, expected to require assistance by 2023. Currently, nearly half of the population, or 20 million people, are experiencing food insecurity at crisis levels, with another six million on the verge of famine-like conditions. In this context, Otunbayeva warned the Council that “time is running out, and demands on donors are multiplying.”
She expressed concern that as 2023 progressed, the Taliban’s ban on women and other restrictions would further impede humanitarian access to those in need. She added that the UN’s ability to deliver was also being hampered by growing concerns about the looming danger posed by the terrorist group known as Islamic State – Khorasan Province, or ISIL-K, and concerns that the Taliban lacked the capacity to address it.
Noting that UNAMA was still meeting with Taliban officials, local opposition, civil society groups, and others on a daily basis, she asked the Council to extend the Mission’s vital mandate for another year. Women’s rights in Afghanistan have been “harmfully annihilated,” according to UN-appointed independent rights experts on Wednesday.
The experts encouraged Taliban leaders to lift the many restrictions imposed on women since they took power in an appeal timed to coincide with International Women’s Day.
“Women and girls have been barred from entering amusement parks, public baths, fitness centers, and sports clubs for four months,” the experts said in a statement, adding that “women have been entirely excluded from public office and the judiciary” since the Taliban took over.
Women and girls in Afghanistan must now follow a strict dress code and are not permitted to travel more than 75 kilometers without a male escort, according to experts. “They are forced to remain at home.”
The rights experts, who report to the Human Rights Council in an impartial capacity as non-UN staff, also urged Taliban authorities to fulfill their obligations under international human rights treaties to which they were affiliates.
