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News > Afghanistan

Senior UN Officials Hold Talks on Women’s Rights in Afghanistan

  • Deputy UNSG Amina Mohammed is heading a UN delegation visiting Kabul to address the restrictions on Afghan women's freedoms by the Taliban administration. Jan. 18, 2023.

    Deputy UNSG Amina Mohammed is heading a UN delegation visiting Kabul to address the restrictions on Afghan women's freedoms by the Taliban administration. Jan. 18, 2023. | Photo: Twitter/@UNOCHA

Published 18 January 2023
Opinion

The talks follow the tightening restrictions on women's freedoms by the Taliban authorities.

Senior UN officials visiting Afghanistan for talks with the Taliban-led administration include Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed and UN Women Executive Secretary Sima Bahous.

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In the context of these talks, the Deputy Secretary-General met with Afghanistan's Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and former Afghan President Hamid Karzai. 

The officials, who have also met with U.N. staff, aid groups and Afghan women, arrived Monday, said U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq, noting their intention to "promote and protect the rights of women and girls."

Before arriving in Afghanistan, the UN delegation held talks in Turkey, Qatar and Pakistan where, according to the spokesman, "a clear consensus emerged on the issue of the rights of women and girls to work and have access to education."

These talks come after the tightening of restrictions on women's freedoms by the Taliban authorities. In early December, the Taliban banned women from attending university. In March, they prevented girls from attending high school.

Amid criticism from the international community, the Taliban administration also ordered local and foreign aid organizations in late December to prevent female staff from working until further notice.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres raised the plight of Afghan women at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday. Amina Mohammed "visited several Islamic countries to mobilize support in the Islamic world to make it clear to the Taliban that they have to reverse the current trend on women," Guterres said.

"I believe that only the Muslim world can convince the Taliban that they have to change," the UN Secretary-General also said.

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