In a unanimously adopted statement, the United Nations Security Council urged the Taliban to “swiftly reverse” policies restricting human rights and freedoms for Afghan women amid fears that the Taliban was turning back the clock on women’s rights.
The move on Tuesday came just days after female TV presenters were ordered to cover their faces completely, the latest in a slew of Taliban restrictions on civil society, many of which target women and girls.
The Council urged the Taliban to “quickly alter the policies and practices that are now impeding Impede Afghan women and girls’ human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
It requested that the Taliban immediately reopen all female-only schools and expressed “grave worry” about the Taliban’s statement that women must cover their faces in public, including on television broadcasts.
The Taliban pledged media freedom and improved women’s rights when they retook power. Instead, they have gradually tightened restrictions, particularly on women, with high schools for girls still not open eight months later.
The Taliban issued an order earlier this month requiring women to cover their faces in public. They’ve also made it illegal for women to travel more than 72 kilometres (45 miles) without the presence of a mahram (male guardian) and to attend school after the sixth grade.
Human rights activists claim that the Taliban’s increasing restrictions are intended to keep women out of public life and that the current rule on facial coverings is obvious evidence of that.
In March, the Taliban reversed their declaration that girls’ high schools would open, claiming they would remain closed until a plan based on Islamic law was devised to reopen them.
The United Nations Security Council “reiterated their call on the Taliban to adhere to international humanitarian law.”
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