NEW YORK: The UN Security Council has unanimously condemned the Afghan Taliban for banning women from work and education, urging them to “swiftly reverse” the curbs on the rights of girls and women.
The resolution drafted and presented by Japan and the UAE – described the ban as “unprecedented in the history of the United Nations” and said it “undermines human rights and humanitarian principles”. The resolution asserts “the indispensable role of women in Afghan society”.
UAE’s ambassador to the United Nations, Lana Nusseibeh, said more than 90 countries co-sponsored the resolution – “from Afghanistan’s immediate neighbourhood, from the Muslim world and all corners of the earth”.
She told the UN Security Council, “This … support makes our fundamental message today even more important – the world would not sit by silently as women in Afghanistan are erased from society,”.
The UN Security Council vote came days before a planned international Afghanistan meeting in Doha on May 1-2. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres would convene behind closed doors special envoys on Afghanistan from various countries to work on a unified approach to dealing with the Taliban.
The United States deputy ambassador to the United Nations
“We would not stand for the Taliban’s repression of women and girls,” The United States deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Robert Wood, told the UNSC. “These decisions are indefensible. They aren’t seen anywhere else in the world.”
“The Taliban edicts are causing irreparable harm to Afghanistan.”
The Taliban began enforcing the restrictions on Afghan women working for the United Nations after stopping most women from working for humanitarian aid groups in December. Since toppling the Western-backed government in 2021, the group has tightened controls on women’s access to public life, including barring women from university and closing girls’ high schools.
The Taliban said it respects women’s rights following its strict interpretation of Islamic law and that decisions on female aid workers were an “internal problem.”
The Security Council resolution recognises the need to address substantial challenges facing Afghanistan’s economy, including using assets belonging to Afghanistan’s Central Bank to benefit the Afghan people.
