UN Security Council Unanimously Condemns Taliban Ban on Afghan Women Working for UN

Students attend a class bifurcated by a curtain separating males and females at a private university to follow the Taliban's ruling, in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Sept. 7, 2021. (Aamir Qureshi/AFP via Getty Images)

The United Nations Security Council voted unanimously to condemn the Taliban’s ban on women working for the organization on April 27, calling the decision “unprecedented in the history of the United Nations.”

The resolution, and a separate one calling on the Taliban to quickly reverse its crackdown on the rights of women and girls, was passed unanimously by the 15-member body in New York.

Russia and China joined the United States, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, and other nations in passing the resolutions in a sign of widespread global concerns over the Taliban’s increasingly aggressive actions.

According to a press release from the United Nations, the resolutions called for the Taliban to put an end to its policies and practices restricting women and girls’ enjoyment of their human rights and fundamental freedoms, including those across education, employment, freedom of movement, and participation in public life.

The council also reiterated its earlier calls on the Taliban to allow for the “full, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access for the personnel” of the organization’s humanitarian agencies, as well as their partners and other humanitarian workers and providers of basic services “regardless of their gender.”

It also recognized the need to help address multiple challenges facing Afghanistan’s economy, including the need to enable the use of assets belonging to Afghanistan’s Central Bank for the benefit of the Afghan people.

Taliban Repression of Women

Over $7 billion of Afghanistan’s assets were frozen by the United States after it withdrew its military from the nation in August 2021, when the leader of the U.S.-backed Afghan government fled and the Taliban captured the capital city of Kabul.

As of today, “not a single penny has been returned,” China’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Geng Shuang said during Thursday’s vote.

When it toppled the democratically-elected government in 2021, the Taliban vowed to protect women’s and girls’ rights while implementing a more moderate rule compared to its strict leadership from 1996 to 2001.

However, it has since rolled back a wide range of women’s rights, including issuing a ban on girls attending high school and university, preventing them from accessing certain public spaces, and removing job opportunities from them.

In December, Taliban leaders signed a decree banning female nationals from working for most NGOs, despite officials vowing in September 2021 that all humanitarian workers, including both men and women, would be guaranteed safety, security, and freedom of movement.

Earlier this month, it banned Afghan women from working with the United Nations in Afghanistan.

While the country is rife with human rights issues, the Taliban has attempted to gain formal recognition by the United Nations as Afghanistan’s legitimate government. Currently, no countries recognize it as a legitimate government, and the former government of President Ashraf Ghani still holds the country’s U.N. seat.

‘We Will Not Stand for the Taliban’s Repression’

Speaking after Thursday’s vote, U.S. Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood said the Security Council has sent a clear, unanimous message to the Taliban and the world: “We will not stand for the Taliban’s repression of women and girls.”

“The Taliban has chosen to ban women from universities; to keep secondary schools closed to girls; and to prevent Afghan women from working with NGOs, the U.N., and in nearly every sector of the economy,” Wood said. “These decisions are indefensible. They are not seen anywhere else in the world.”

Approximately 90 countries worldwide co-sponsored the resolution, including many Muslim nations, U.N. officials said.

“This cross-regional support makes today’s fundamental message even more significant: the world will not sit by silently as women in Afghanistan are erased from society,” UAE Ambassador to the United Nations Lana Zaki Nusseibeh said.

The vote comes as House Republicans continue to investigate the United States’ abrupt evacuation from Afghanistan and have requested documents regarding the withdrawal from the Biden administration.

It also comes ahead of a planned international meeting in Doha on May 1–2 on Afghanistan, which U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said will focus on building a “unified consensus” among the international community regarding the current challenges facing Afghanistan.

Reuters contributed to this report.