Taliban Must Uphold International Obligations, Restore Women’s ‘Non-Negotiable’ Rights, Security Council Told
‘Moment for Realism’, Says Head of United Nations Mission amid Growing Frustration that ‘Political Engagement Not Working’
Pointing to growing frustration over the lack of progress in political engagement with Afghanistan’s de facto authorities — compounded by cuts to humanitarian-aid funding that are placing additional pressure on the Afghan people — the top UN official there told the Security Council today that the Taliban must clearly demonstrate their commitment to Afghanistan’s international reintegration.
“The de facto authorities have, so far, treated [Afghanistan’s] international obligations selectively,” noted Roza Otunbayeva, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). However, she underscored that these international obligations “affect not only the possibility of progress along the political pathway, but, most crucially, the well-being of Afghanistan’s entire population”.
Significant Impact of Defunding Aid
That population, she said, continues to face a “severe” humanitarian crisis, and “the defunding of assistance is already having — and will continue to have — a significant impact on the Afghan people”. Welcoming the World Bank’s recent decision to provide an additional $240 million to support the country’s health sector, she also detailed the “joined-up” approach implemented by the UN and its partners in Afghanistan, as well as a growing economy and increased investment. Yet, she said that the de facto authorities’ “vision of economic self-sufficiency” cannot be achieved unless obstacles to reintegration are resolved.
“Here, we return to the question of Afghanistan’s international obligations,” she said. Significant restrictions on women continue, and UNAMA has been closely observing the Taliban’s enforcement of its Law on the Prevention of Vice and Promotion of Virtue since its promulgation in August 2024. “The law demonstrates the de facto authorities’ prioritization of ideology over international obligations,” she stressed. And noting continued activity by ISIL-KP and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, she pointed to “legitimate questions about the de facto authorities’ ability or commitment to uphold their own guarantees that Afghanistan will not become a threat to other countries”.
Stressing that “the space for engagement is narrowing”, she noted international stakeholders’ growing frustration that “political engagement is not working and may actually be encouraging hardliners within the de facto authority”. Further, global trends risk leaving Afghanistan poorer, more vulnerable and more isolated. This in mind, she stated that the most helpful development would be a “clear signal from the de facto authorities that they are committed to the reintegration of Afghanistan with the international community — with all that implies”. She added: “This is a moment for realism.”
Caution against ‘Normalizing’ Taliban
“In 2021, the Taliban tried to sell themselves to the international community as a reformed group, promising to respect human rights, including women’s rights — a lie the international community was too quick to believe,” said Azadah Raz Mohammad, Co-Founder of the Ham Diley Campaign. However, Afghan women warned that, given the chance, the Taliban would destroy every gain they had fought for since their brutal rule in the 1990s. Now, their fears have become reality: through at least 126 brutally enforced decrees, the Taliban have deprived Afghan women and girls of their most fundamental rights — education, employment, movement, assembly, speech and life free from violence.
“The Taliban have erased Afghan women so thoroughly that even hearing their voices or seeing their faces in public is now a crime,” she said, adding that “they are suffocating in their homes, banned from even looking out the window”. Through gender apartheid, the Taliban is ready to crush anyone who resists them, and punishments include extrajudicial killing, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture, sexual violence, corporal punishment, public flogging and execution by stoning. Accountability for these grave violations is essential — “yet impossible domestically”, she stressed.
She also voiced concern over “alarming steps” by the UN and Member States to normalize the Taliban, recalling the “Doha 3” meeting in June 2024 at which Afghan women were excluded from formal discussions. On Taliban social media accounts, there is “a regular flow of smiling photos of foreign diplomats and businessmen partnering with this gender-apartheid regime”, she added.
Yet, the recent application by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court for arrest warrants for two senior Taliban leaders is “a pushback” against this normalization and “a beacon of hope” for the people of Afghanistan, she said. For its part, the Council should impose sanctions on all Taliban leaders who have committed human rights violations against Afghan women and girls, she urged, also stressing that gender apartheid should be codified as a crime against humanity.
Women’s Rights in Focus
As the floor opened for debate, many Council members noted the timeliness of today’s meeting, which coincided with the opening of the Commission on the Status of Women’s sixty-ninth session, just days after the International Women’s Day observance on 8 March. They urged the international community to condemn the Taliban’s segregationist and repressive policies.
Among them was the representative of France, who observed that the regime has placed gender-based persecution and violence against women at the heart of its political identity. This not only harms women, he stressed: “By erasing half of the population from public life, the Taliban are crushing any prospect of development and justice for Afghanistan.” Greece’s representative urged the Taliban to end “the systematic and systemic violations of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of Afghan women and girls”.
“We urge the Taliban to immediately reverse all of their discriminatory policies,” concurred the representative of Denmark, Council President for March, as she spoke in her national capacity. Stressing that the Taliban’s “self-destructive” edicts will negatively impact the country, Panama’s representative urged the de facto authorities to reconsider implementation of these measures. “The Taliban face a choice,” said the representative of the United Kingdom. “If they want to be integrated into the international community, then they must adhere to their international obligations,” he emphasized.
Slovenia’s delegate said that most of Afghanistan’s partners — including Ljubljana — remain genuinely concerned about and ready to assist the Afghan people, despite the country’s continuously regressive developments. “However, the Taliban must create suitable and sustainable conditions by upholding international law and fulfilling Afghanistan’s international obligations — including the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Violence Against Women,” she added.
Guyana’s representative, also speaking for Algeria, Sierra Leone and Somalia, said that international engagement with Afghanistan is “crucial” for the country’s development and stability. However, she, too, called on the Taliban to comply with Afghanistan’s international obligations “for the well-being of the Afghan people”. Yet, the representative of the United States voiced scepticism regarding the Taliban’s good-faith engagement in the UN’s Doha process, urging the Organization to be a stronger voice “in pressing the Taliban to change course”.
Caution against Imposing External Visions
Despite the dark prospects outlined by the West, said the representative of the Russian Federation, “there is no other game in town aside from pragmatic cooperation with the Taliban”. He stressed that building sustainable peace is only possible “if we have a patient dialogue” with the de facto authorities — without any attempts to impose outside visions or priorities.
However, the representative of the Republic of Korea observed: “The situation of women and girls and minorities in Afghanistan is a source of universal concern.” It is not only Western countries, but also Muslim communities, that have voiced caution about the misuse of religious principles for legitimizing policies of exclusion. It is neither a concern solely outside Afghanistan, he added, noting that “doubts have been raised even within the Taliban itself”.
China’s representative, meanwhile, highlighted Afghanistan’s improving economy and dynamic external relations, calling on the Council to adjust the sanctions regime established pursuant to resolution 1988 (2011). He also underscored the importance of rebuilding Afghanistan’s banking system and urged other States to abandon “political calculus and geopolitical biases” to safeguard the greater good of international counter-terrorism cooperation.
Issues That Must Be Addressed in Doha Process
Pakistan’s representative also underscored the importance of reviving Afghanistan’s banking sector. “Afghanistan’s trade could grow significantly if it resolved its problems with Pakistan,” he added, stating that authorities in Kabul are complicit in cross-border attacks by Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. Urging intensified efforts to “promote early normalization in Afghanistan”, he said that all “fundamental” issues — including counter-terrorism, human rights and inclusive governance — must be addressed in the UN’s Doha process.
However, the Taliban rejected the “legitimate and joint demands of the Afghan people and their global partners”, said the representative of Afghanistan, stressing that the international community has engaged the Taliban for almost four years. Instead, he added, they have consolidated power under a “rigid, unelected, theocratic and misogynistic regime” whose policies have pushed Afghanistan into poverty and dependency on international aid.
He therefore urged the Council to send a clear, unified message that “women’s rights are non-negotiable”, that Taliban leaders must be held accountable and that the Council will explore targeted measures against those responsible for violations. Further, engagement with the Taliban must be conditioned on respect for international obligations; humanitarian aid must reach those in need; and Afghanistan must not become a hub for extremism. “Let history not say that we watched, debated and did nothing,” he urged.
The Council also heard from several other countries in the region, with the representative of Kazakhstan noting that his Government has introduced a wheat-farming initiative to empower local farmers in central Afghanistan and has backed the establishment of the United Nations Regional Centre for the Sustainable Development Goals for Central Asia and Afghanistan in Almaty.
India’s representative also detailed his country’s commitment to Afghanistan, noting its aid deliveries since August 2021 — 27 tons of relief material, 50,000 tons of wheat, 40,000 litres of pesticides and more than 300 tons of medicines and medical equipment. Further, since 2001, India has implemented more than 500 projects across all provinces to facilitate Afghanistan’s reconstruction.
For his part, Iran’s delegate underscored that the international community cannot allow Afghanistan to become a haven for terrorism, and turning to Afghan refugees and migrants, he said that Iran has sheltered millions of Afghans for over 40 years. This has been a heavy burden, he stressed — “one that became even greater after the United States’ reckless withdrawal in 2021”.