43 Countries Condemn Taliban Restrictions on Afghan Women and Girls

DID Press: Representatives of 43 countries at the United Nations in New York have expressed solidarity with Afghan women and girls and condemned the Taliban’s continued restrictions on their rights, calling for all such measures to be lifted immediately.

In a joint statement delivered by Jérôme Bonnafont, France’s permanent representative to the UN, the countries said the Taliban had pursued a policy of gender segregation since returning to power in August 2021 and had severely restricted women’s and girls’ access to education, employment, health services and public life.

The signatories called on the Taliban to end human-rights violations and remove restrictions imposed on women and girls. They also said women who challenge, or are perceived to challenge, the restrictions face arbitrary detention and imprisonment, while women’s-rights advocates and critics of the Taliban face detention and retaliatory measures.

The French Mission to the United Nations said Afghanistan’s future cannot be achieved without women’s participation, arguing that excluding half of the country’s active population from economic participation is an obstacle to the country’s development.

The statement comes as the Taliban continue to bar girls from secondary education and women from university education, while imposing restrictions on employment, freedom of movement and participation in public life.