October 2, 2026
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a resolution Thursday calling on Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers to swiftly reverse their increasingly harsh restrictions on women and girls, which range from severely restricting education to banning women from most jobs, public spaces and gyms.
The council condemned the Taliban's ban on women working for the U.N., a decision the resolution calls “unprecedented in the history of the United Nations.”
The unanimous 15-0 vote, with the United States, Russia and China all in favor, was a sign of the widespread global concerns over the Taliban’s actions. It was a rare moment of unity on a high-profile issue at a time of steep international divisions over the Ukraine war, although both Russia and China criticized the United States after the vote for its past role in Afghanistan and for refusing to return all $7 billion in frozen Afghan government funds.
The Security Council never considered sanctions against the Taliban but the strong rebuke by the U.N.’s most powerful body is a blow to the prestige of Afghanistan’s rulers, who are trying get credibility on the global stage – including formal recognition by the United Nations as Afghanistan’s legitimate government.
When the Taliban seized power in August 2021 as U.S. and NATO forces were pulling out of Afghanistan after two decades of war, they initially promised a more moderate rule than during their first stint in power from 1996 to 2001. But there has been a growing international outcry as Taliban leaders have gradually re-imposed their severe interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia, on women and girls.
During the 20 years after the Taliban were ousted in 2001 for harboring al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden, who masterminded the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States, schools and universities were opened for girls and women entered the workforce and politics, and became judges, ministers and professors.
U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood told the council after the vote, “Today, the Security Council has sent a clear. unanimous message to the Taliban and to the world: We will not stand for the Taliban's repression of women and girls.”
In Kabul on Friday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the Security Council's condemnation of the decision to restrict Afghan women from working at the U.N. as an “internal social matter” that did not impact outside states.
“We remain committed to ensuring all rights of Afghan women while emphasizing that diversity must be respected and not politicized," the ministry said in a statement.
Separately, a prominent figure in the Taliban denounced the Security Council's “failed policy” of pressure. Anas Haqqani, brother of the Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, said in a tweet: “It would have been better if UNSC had assessed the removal of diplomatic & financial sanctions instead of such resolutions, which amounts to the collective punishment of Afghans.”
Under Taliban rule, girls have been barred from school beyond the sixth grade and women are now virtually confined to their homes, unable to go out and travel without a male guardian. In late December, the Taliban banned national and international aid groups from employing Afghan women and on April 4 they extended that ban to Afghan women working for the United Nations.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the Taliban ban “a violation of the inalienable fundamental human rights of women” and Afghanistan’s obligations under international human rights law, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
Female staff members are essential to executing life-saving U.N. operations on the ground, Dujarric said, stressing that out of Afghanistan’s population of about 40 million people, “we’re trying to reach 23 million men, women and children with humanitarian aid.”
The U.N. has warned that the ban could cripple desperately needed aid deliveries, and lead to a U.N. pullout from Afghanistan.
The Taliban have ignored numerous appeals from the U.N. and many countries, including the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation, to restore the rights of girls and women. But Japan's U.N. Ambassador Kimihiro Ishikane said “we need to keep reaching out to them” so the message can start resonating.
Nusseibeh said at some point the Taliban will want to be part of the international community, and when they do “I think it's clear what the conditions and the requirements are.”
Share with others
