NEW YORK (Reuters/AFP) – The UN Security Council (UNSC) has unanimously condemned a ban by the Taliban on Afghan women working for the United Nations in Afghanistan, calling on Taliban leaders to “swiftly reverse” a crackdown on the rights of women and girls.
The resolution – drafted by the United Arab Emirates and Japan – describes the ban as “unprecedented in the history of the United Nations” and says it “undermines human rights and humanitarian principles”. The resolution also asserts “the indispensable role of women in Afghan society”.
UAE’s ambassador to the UN, Lana Nusseibeh, said more than 90 countries co-sponsored the resolution – “from Afghanistan’s immediate neighborhood, from the Muslim world and from all corners of the earth”.
“This … support makes our fundamental message today even more significant – the world will not sit by silently as women in Afghanistan are erased from society,” she told the UNSC.
The UNSC vote came days before a planned international meeting, regarding Afghanistan, in Doha on May 1-2. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will convene behind closed doors special envoys on Afghanistan from various countries to work on a unified approach to dealing with the Taliban.
“We will not stand for the Taliban’s repression of women and girls,” The United States deputy ambassador to the UN, Robert Wood, told the UNSC. “These decisions are indefensible. They are not seen anywhere else in the world.”
“The Taliban edicts are causing irreparable damage to Afghanistan.”
Earlier this month, the Taliban began enforcing the ban on Afghan women working for the UN after stopping most women working for humanitarian aid groups in December. Since toppling the Western-backed government in 2021, the group has also tightened controls on women’s access to public life, including barring women from university and closing girls’ high schools.
A senior Taliban leader warned the United Nations Security Council Friday to give up its “failed policy of pressure” after members adopted a resolution condemning Kabul’s growing restrictions on women.
Anas Haqqani, a senior leader in the Taliban movement but with no official government role, said the council “shouldn’t continue the failed policy of pressure”.
“Any position adopted, that is not based upon a deep understanding won’t give the desired results and will always be ineffective,” he said on Twitter.
He said the council should instead remove diplomatic and financial sanctions placed on a slew of officials which “amounts to the collective punishment of Afghans”.
Russian ambassador Vasily Nebenzia criticized the text of the resolution despite signing it.
“We seriously regret and are disappointed that steps and a more ambitious approach and texts were blocked by Western colleagues,” he said.
“If you’re so sincere, why not return the assets you’ve stolen from the country and without any preconditions,” he said, referring to the $7 billion in Afghan central bank assets frozen by the United States after the Taliban government seized power.