UN Security Council calls for reversal of Taliban policies on women

UN Security Council called on the Taliban to “swiftly alter” measures curtailing Afghan women’s human rights and freedoms, In a unanimously agreed statement,

The action comes only days after female TV hosts were compelled to cover their entire faces, the latest in a series of Taliban restrictions on civil society, many of which target women and girls.

In the text drafted by Norway, the council’s 15 member states said they were particularly concerned with the Taliban’s “imposition of restrictions that limit access to education, employment, freedom of movement, and women’s full, equal and meaningful participation in public life.”

The council said it called on the Taliban “to swiftly reverse the policies and practices which are currently restricting the human rights and fundamental freedoms of Afghan women and girls.”

It demanded the Taliban re-open schools for all female students without further delay and expressed “deep concern” over the announcement that women must cover their faces in public, including on television broadcasts.

According to diplomats, negotiations on the text, which lasted nearly two weeks, hit road bumps when China and Russia objected to a focus on human rights.

As a result, passages in the statement express “great worry” about the “volatile situation in Afghanistan” in terms of humanitarian, political, economic, social, and security challenges.

The article emphasizes the need to repair the country’s financial and banking systems, as well as drug trafficking and terrorist assaults targeting civilians.