56 Countries Urge Taliban to End Discriminatory Policies Against Women

DID Press: On the fifth anniversary of the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, at least 56 UN member states issued a joint statement calling for the immediate repeal of the group’s discriminatory decrees and policies against women and girls. The countries stressed the need to restore women’s right to education and ensure their equal participation in all areas of social and political life.

Christina Markus Lassen, Denmark’s representative to the United Nations, read the joint statement on behalf of the 56 countries, emphasizing the need to end the Taliban’s restrictive policies toward Afghan women and girls.

The statement said the signatories were renewing their commitment to keeping Afghanistan high on the international agenda, working through the United Nations and supporting the Afghan people. They called on the Taliban to repeal all discriminatory decrees and respect human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Earlier, 24 UN special rapporteurs and experts described the Taliban’s systematic repression of women in Afghanistan as a form of “gender apartheid” and called for its recognition as a distinct crime against humanity.

The diplomatic missions of the United Kingdom, Sweden, Latvia and Lithuania also reposted the statement on X, stressing the need to end what they described as the “brutal repression of women and girls.”

Sweden’s UN mission wrote: “Afghanistan is the only country in the world where girls are barred from secondary and higher education.”

The countries reiterated their warning that the continuation of the Taliban’s policies constitutes a clear violation of human rights and poses a serious threat to Afghanistan’s future.

Despite international pressure, the Taliban continue to defend their policies and have described international criticism as “interference in Afghanistan’s internal affairs.”