Afghanistan’s De Facto Authorities’ New Law Barring Women from Medical Training Imperils Entire Country’s Health, Stability, Briefers Tell Security Council
Meeting on the heels of the Taliban’s new directive prohibiting women and girls from attending public and private medical institutes in Afghanistan, the Security Council examined the impacts of the de facto authorities’ increasingly repressive policies, amounting to “gender apartheid”, as speakers urged the Taliban to reverse course.
Roza Otunbayeva, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), said she has “strongly urged the de facto authorities to reconsider” the latest restriction, which would have deadly implications for women and girls. The measure is part of the authorities’ pursuit of a vision of an Islamic system and Afghan culture, characterized by a “progressive erasure from almost all walks of life”, she observed, adding that the implementation of the “Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice Law” has led to people choosing to self-regulate rather than risk punishment. The law also imposed other repressive measures, including a greater enforcement of requirements regarding men’s beards and Western-style haircuts that has led to the closures of barbershops.
Citing a November report on widening media restrictions, she noted that political decision-making by the de facto authorities is increasingly opaque, due to threats to the country’s stability, such as this week’s suicide attack on its Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation. Outlining her Office’s engagement with the Taliban on issues such as human rights norms and detainee access, as well as on counter-narcotics, she stressed: “Engagement is not normalization or recognition.” Engagement serves to prevent Afghanistan’s isolation or — worse — a return to conflict, she said, underscoring the need to build trust for the benefit of the Afghan people.
The Council also heard from Roya Mahboob, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of the Digital Citizen Fund, who reported: “Our country is suffering from the climate crisis, from droughts and earthquakes and from an economy governed by a group of men obsessing over whether women should be allowed to go to a park or have a beauty salon rather than care how to resolve the hunger and homelessness of our people.” Recalling her memory of the Taliban setting on fire her family’s books and small television in 1996, she said that its fall, in 2001, enabled women to regain the right to education and work. “They became doctors, engineers, policymakers and entrepreneurs,” she said, adding: “I was one of them […] leading a robotics team that built ventilators and UV disinfection systems during the pandemic.”
Citing estimates that in 2023 restrictions on women’s livelihoods cost Afghanistan up to $1 billion, she declared: “The Taliban regime is waging a civil war against women that is undermining national, regional and global security.” The Taliban’s policies constitute gender apartheid, resulting in the loss of jobs by almost half of Afghanistan’s employed women, as well as a 25 per cent rise in child marriages and 50 per cent rise in maternal mortality. She urged the Council to make engagement with the Taliban conditional on concrete progress on women’s rights, including meaningful — not tokenistic — participation of Afghan women and civil society in policy forums, and called for the creation of a special tribunal to investigate the Taliban’s crimes.
“Although it now rarely makes headlines, Afghanistan remains in the grip of a staggering humanitarian crisis,” said Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, describing an extremely fragile economy, with half the population living in poverty; more than 33 per cent of Afghans lack access to health services and malnutrition rates are alarmingly high and rising. Also pointing to extreme weather events, leading to the destruction of crops and livestock, and the return of a million Afghans from neighbouring countries this year, he emphasized that half the population needs support, “making Afghanistan the second largest humanitarian crisis in the world, after only Sudan”.
He also pointed out that the directive barring Afghan women from attending public and private medical institutes would likely lead to a dramatic increase in rates of antenatal, neonatal and maternal mortality, as it would prevent more than 36,000 midwives and 2,800 nurses from entering the workforce in the next few years. The new law also led to an increasing proportion of Afghan humanitarian workers being prevented from working. Although the UN and partners provided life-saving aid to 18 million people across the country in 2024, a lack of funds hampered much-needed assistance, resulting in halved ration sizes and the closure of hundreds of medical centres. Also pointing to delays due to the de facto authorities’ attempted interference, he highlighted the critical role played by resolution 2615 (2021) in facilitating expenditures and payments. “Without them, operations would cease,” he stressed, calling for funding to be scaled up, with $2.4 billion in 2025.
Andrés Montalvo Sosa (Ecuador), speaking in his capacity as Chair of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1988 (2011), also briefed the Council, stressing that the restrictions on women’s and girls’ access to education and employment has weakened the Afghan economic system. Also noting extrajudicial executions, arbitrary detentions, public floggings and media censorship, he expressed concern about the persistence of violent incidents attributed to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant-Khorasan and armed groups. Calling for a national dialogue process that involves all social and political sectors, especially Afghan women, he said it is vital to push for a new Doha meeting. Also stressing the need to guarantee funding for the Afghanistan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for 2025, which will close with only 40 per cent of the funding required for its annual operation, he said the security and freedom of movement of humanitarian workers, particularly female staff must be guaranteed.
When the floor opened, Member States were near-unanimous in expressing their concern about the Taliban’s new edict, calling for its immediate reversal. Among them was France’s representative, who pointed out that the new measure will limit the already precarious access of women and girls to healthcare, since male medical staff are prohibited from treating women unaccompanied by a male member of their family. “By preventing women from studying medicine, the Taliban have signed a death warrant for many Afghan women,” he underscored, which in turn would have devastating consequences for the future of Afghanistan and for its stability.
Similarly, Switzerland’s representative emphasized that this exclusion of women from the health sector will exacerbate the already critical shortage of essential services. “When half the population is excluded from education, public and economic life, the consequences reverberate throughout the country. Poverty is exacerbated. Communities are destabilized,” she warned.
Several delegates, including Japan, underscored that the Taliban’s restrictions undermine efforts in increased engagement with the de facto authorities. Slovenia’s representative, stressing that these developments must not be ignored by the international community, appealed to all countries, regional and other organizations, with influence on the Taliban to get them to ease the inhumane situation of women and girls.
“We stand with you in solidarity,” declared the United States representative, Council President for December, addressing the Afghan women in her national capacity. Stressing that the new restriction “defies logic”, she said: “This is not cultural and it’s not religious. It is unfathomable. It is sick. It is heartless. It means these men — Taliban — are sentencing their mothers who birthed them, their sisters, their wives, their own daughters, to die before their eyes if they become ill.” Her country will continue to deliver critical aid to Afghans in need and press the Taliban to change course, she said.
However, two Council members commended positive developments in Afghanistan, and criticized conditions imposed by the West. China’s representative pointed to a stable security situation, a gradual improvement in economy and more solid regional cooperation. “Humanitarian relief concerns the vital interests of all Afghan people and must not be used as a bargaining chip for political pressure,” he said, calling on the United States to unfreeze and return overseas assets that belong to the Afghan people. Relevant countries should also unconditionally lift illegal unilateral sanctions against Afghanistan, he added.
The Russian Federation’s representative concurred, praising the de facto authorities’ efforts to reinforce regional cooperation and rebuild socioeconomic capabilities. Stressing the need for “patient painstaking dialogue with de facto authorities”, he commended the “focus on pragmatic cooperation” by his country, China, Iran and Pakistan. The Taliban remain keen on building such pragmatic cooperation, he noted, voicing regret that certain Western donors continue to dictate conditions to resume broad-ranging humanitarian assistance.
“Engagement with the Taliban must not come at the expense of women’s rights,” countered Malta’s delegate, a stance echoed by the representative of the Republic of Korea, who said: “By pursuing ‘pragmatic engagement’, we should be able to clearly convey that the Taliban’s obsession to undermine women in every aspect of life is self-harming and contradicts their stated goal of self-reliance, as well as international norms.”
Many speakers drew attention to the security situation, with the representative of Guyana, also speaking for Algeria, Mozambique and Sierra Leone, pointing to an alarming 39.6 per cent increase in security-related incident reports compared to the same period in 2023. She called on the Taliban to combat terrorism and urged countries in the region to intensify joint efforts to stabilize Afghanistan’s security situation “to ensure peace dividends for the entire region”.
Ecuador’s representative, urging funding for the Afghanistan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for 2025, said the Doha meetings have been opportunities for the international community to establish channels for dialogue. To that end, the United Kingdom’s delegate called for the swift appointment of a UN Special Envoy, as mandated in resolution 2721 (2023).
Afghanistan’s delegate, representing the previous Government in Kabul overthrown by the Taliban, said that group has become increasingly emboldened, four years into a rule that has “produced nothing but poverty, isolation and misery”. Ignoring repeated calls for pragmatism and engagement, the Taliban intensified its oppressive restrictions, he said, deploring the dire consequences for the economy, civic society and vulnerable groups, such as Shia and Hazara communities. Also expressing alarm over the worsening humanitarian and security situation, he called on the International Criminal Court to investigate the Taliban for its gender-based persecution. The UN-led Doha process must include all credible Afghan representatives, including women leaders, he added, stressing: “Taliban are not the only stakeholder.”
Delegations of neighbouring countries also spoke, including Pakistan’s delegate, who called for the Doha Process framework to go beyond counter-narcotics and the private sector; Afghanistan’s challenges, including terrorism, human rights and widespread poverty, are also affecting the region. “Iran as a neighbor has shouldered a disproportionate share of the burden stemming from the Afghanistan crisis, especially after the reckless U.S. withdrawal in 2021,” said that country’s representative, stressing that host countries need sustained aid.
Kyrgyzstan’s representative, observing that Central Asia is a destination point for international terrorists, violent extremists and drug traffickers, noted Afghanistan’s efforts combatting non-State terrorist actors and the illegal production and trafficking of narcotics. Kazakhstan’s delegate, describing his country’s humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, spotlighted his Government’s proposal to establish a UN regional centre on sustainable development for Central Asia and Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, India’s delegate said his country has been working with UN agencies to provide assistance to the Afghan people in health, food security, education, counter-narcotics sectors, among others, through 500 projects across the country and scholarship schemes which have benefited 2,000 Afghan students, “including approximately 600 girls in the online mode” since 2023.
NEW – Follow real-time meetings coverage on our LIVE blog.