In Focus
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UN Women Afghanistan
In statements
Statement on Afghanistan by UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous
UN Women’s work in Afghanistan is anchored in our relationship with Afghan women. I have repeatedly heard directly from them, including during my mission to Afghanistan earlier this year. They have told me and the world about the ways in which these actions are misguided, cruel, and ultimately self-defeating. They lessen the women and girls of Afghanistan and the people of Afghanistan who are robbed of their contribution ...
Statement: The decree barring women in Afghanistan from working in non-governmental organizations is yet another stark violation of women’s rights
UN Women stands in full solidarity with the women and girls of Afghanistan. I stress again our complete condemnation of the continued erasure and oppression of Afghanistan’s women and girls from public life and our outrage at this latest act of cruelty [..] UN Women has stayed and delivered in Afghanistan, and we will remain. Together with our partners we will make every effort to ensure that women and girls reclaim their space ...
Statement on Afghanistan by Sima Bahous, UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director
Women have always played a key role in shaping Afghanistan’s development, and in supporting its peace, security and resilience. In the face of incredible challenges, Afghan women have continued to go to university. These institutions were some of the last places where they could come together and continue to learn. To end women’s higher education is to ignore their historical contributions and sever them from their future potential and the potential of their country ...
Statement: Protect the rights of all Afghans
Education is a fundamental human right and a driving force for the advancement of social, economic, political, and cultural development, a vision agreed at the UN General Assembly’s recently concluded “Transforming Education Summit”. I join the UN Secretary-General in his call for the de facto authorities to protect the rights of all Afghans—regardless of ethnicity or gender—to access education safely and securely. I urge the de facto authorities to take immediate action to protect the full rights of Afghan women and girls ...
Statement: ‘Meticulously constructed policies of inequality’ – Afghanistan one year on
Statement on Afghanistan by Sima Bahous, UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director, 15 August 2022. "In the year that has passed since the Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan, we have seen daily and continuous deterioration in the situation of Afghan women and girls. This has spanned every aspect of their human rights, from living standards to social and political status. It has been a year of increasing disrespect for their right to live free and equal lives ...
The rights and needs of women and girls must be at the centre of the humanitarian response to the earthquake in Afghanistan
The level of suffering seen in Paktika is unimaginable. Afghanistan has been experiencing emergency after emergency over the last months - the collapse of the economy, high levels of food insecurity and a women’s rights crisis unlike any in the world ...
Statement on Afghanistan by Ms Sima Bahous, UN Women Executive Director
I am gravely concerned by the Taliban's announcement that all women must cover their faces in public, that women should only leave their homes in cases of necessity, and that violations of this directive will lead to the punishment of their male relatives. Freedom of movement is a fundamental human right.
STATEMENT ON THE HIJAB ANNOUNCEMENT BY TALIBAN AUTHORITIES
UNAMA is deeply concerned with today’s announcement by the Taliban de facto authorities that all women must cover their faces in public, that women should only leave their homes in cases of necessity, and that violations of this directive will lead to the punishment of their male relatives.
UNHCR and UN Women join efforts to protect and uphold the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and UN Women, the UN entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women signed a letter of intent committing to strengthen their partnership to protect the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.
“Enough: We cannot stall progress any longer”
In her remarks to the UN Security Council Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security, UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous said: "If we want to see a tangible difference in the lives of women and girls and a paradigm shift in the way we confront peace and security issues, we need governments to step up."
Stands in solidarity with Afghan women who are fighting for the respect of their fundamental rights and freedoms
Statement: Executive Director a.i. of UN Women, Ms Pramila Patten. “Women have a right to peaceful protest and to a life free of violence. In taking control of Afghanistan the Taliban authorities assume a duty to respect and protect these rights,”
In press releases
Press Release following UN Deputy Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director's Visit to Afghanistan
During their mission, Ms Mohammed and Ms Bahous met with affected communities, humanitarian workers, civil society and other key actors, in Kabul, Kandahar and Herat. “We have witnessed extraordinary resilience. Afghan women left us no doubt of their courage and refusal to be erased from public life. They will continue to advocate and fight for their rights, and we are duty bound to support them in doing so,” Ms Bahous said ...
In stories
In the words of Mahbouba Seraj: “We are the hope, we are the power keeping Afghanistan together.”
My name is Mahbouba Seraj. I am 74 years old. I am an activist and women’s rights defender and I live in Afghanistan. A historian by education, for the last 12 months I chose to stay in Afghanistan to witness what was happening to my country and its people and to work for a better Afghanistan—one that belongs to all of us ...
Afghan journalist Zahra Nader: Creating a platform for Afghan women’s voices to be heard
Zahra Nader is an Afghan Canadian journalist and editor-in-chief of Zan Times, a newly launched media outlet that covers human rights in Afghanistan with a focus on women, the LGBT community and environmental issues.
In the words of Zuleika: “I want women to see”
Living in a strict family and having satellite television at home with channels from Europe, the U.S. and Russia, I could see that life is different outside of Afghanistan. I wanted a life like that one day. I had English courses in 10th grade and I finished all the levels until the advanced. But I realized that if I didn’t continue studying or teaching, I would forget the language.
In the words of Adelah: “I believe that with gender equality, peace will come”
In my family, women can be either teachers or doctors. There was no other choice. So, this is what I did. But deep down, it was hurting me. Every day, I cried on the way to university. After graduating, I became a teacher, but I wasn’t enjoying it. I loved kids but it was not my dream. I wasn’t happy.
Afghan journalist Zahra Nader: Creating a platform for Afghan women’s voices to be heard
Zahra Nader is an Afghan Canadian journalist and editor-in-chief of Zan Times, a newly launched media outlet that covers human rights in Afghanistan with a focus on women, the LGBT community and environmental issues.
Afghan women leaders speak at the UN: “Give us a seat at the table.”
Afghan women leaders and human rights defenders speak to press outside of the UN Security Council chambers on 21 October 2021. Pictured from left to right: Asila Wardak, Fawzia Koofi (speaking), Anisa Shaheed and Naheed Farid.
“If women are not part of decision-making processes… all the achievements we made would vanish”
Naheed Farid was among many women leaders who left Afghanistan, fearing for their lives, as the Taliban took over in August 2021. Farid spoke at the UN recently, calling for international support to address the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and to safeguard women’s rights.
Gender equality is critical for the Afghanistan’s future, long-term development, and sustained peace
Since the Taliban took power, a cabinet has been appointed that has no women. Deputy Ministers were appointed and, again, no women were included. The Ministry for Women's Affairs has been abolished. In some provinces, women are being told not to come to work or not to leave their homes without a male relative. Women protection centers are being attacked, and the people that work in them are being harassed.
In Focus: Women, Peace and Security
Around the world, from Afghanistan, to Ethiopia, to Myanmar, women’s human rights defenders have come under attack and the wave of political violence against women in politics and media has risen. Against this backdrop, women continue to be under-represented in COVID-19 response and other decision-making fora, although women’s labour – paid and unpaid – and their leadership in communities keep families and nations running.
In the news
Op-ed: Afghanistan’s women are critical to its survival
UN Women stands ready to coordinate and to convene members of the G20, including with diverse Afghan women leaders, for you to directly hear from them. We are available to bring together the different options, incentives and technical assistance that can be offered, in order to encourage the pathways to policies and practices that avoid any further damaging polarisation of agendas.
Regional Director Mohammad Naciri Speaks to CNBC
Mohammad Naciri of UN Women for Asia and the Pacific says the Taliban made public statements ensuring the safety and security of women and girls. However, what is being said in Kabul may not have a trickle-down effect to the provinces and villages of Afghanistan.
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