By Rahel Beigel, UN representative and senior advocacy officer at the Women's Refugee Commission
In March, the United Nations (UN) Security Council unanimously voted to adopt Security Council Resolution 2678 (2023) which extends the current mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), as set out in Resolution 2626 (2022), until March 17, 2024. The extension of the current mandate is a technical rollover that maintains the provisions of last year's resolution without adding or changing UNAMA's scope of work. This unanimous vote is welcomed by civil society advocates who have been calling for the Security Council and UN agencies to take stronger action to protect the human rights of Afghanistan's women and girls. For those at the forefront of the humanitarian response, the renewal of the mandate brings some assurance of sustained balance of international rule of law against the de facto authorities. The mandate renewal supports the role of Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan Roza Otunbayeva to be an outspoken advocate for the rights of Afghan women and girls and continue pushing for their full, equal, and meaningful participation in any decisions made by the international community with regards to Afghanistan. The extension further ensures that the minimum standards for UN agencies operating within Afghanistan are upheld and that critical humanitarian assistance will continue to be delivered where it is needed most.
Alongside the UNAMA renewal, the Security Council also voted in favor of Resolution 2679 (2023), which requests the Secretary-General to conduct an "independent assessment" that would provide "forward-looking recommendations for an integrated and coherent approach" by international actors to address the current challenges faced by Afghanistan. The assessment must be presented in full to the Security Council by November 17, 2023. This second resolution is unprecedented for UNAMA. Drafted by Japan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), this call for a technical assessment is considered by some advocates for the human rights of women and girls as an extraneous exercise that has potential to further stall progress on humanitarian intervention and implementation of humanitarian normative frameworks, particularly the Women, Peace and Security agenda. Yet the assessment also presents an opportunity for the UN system to prioritize gender equality and demonstrate unwavering support for Afghan women and girls. As the Secretary-General's office embarks on assembling and deploying the technical assessment team, it is critical that all stakeholders collectively mobilize to ensure that this is not a missed opportunity.
The first concern with undertaking the technical assessment is that it will legitimize the rule of the de facto authorities and normalize relations with the Taliban. The text of the resolution requests the Secretary-General, in accordance with best practices, to conduct and provide in full to the Security Council, no later than November 17, 2023, "an integrated, independent assessment... and after consultations with all relevant Afghan political actors and stakeholders, including relevant authorities, Afghan women, and civil society, as well as the region and the wider international community."
After the Taliban takeover in 2021, the Security Council adopted Resolution 2593 and Resolution 2596 calling upon the de facto authorities to establish an inclusive and representative government in order to be recognized as a legitimate government by the UN. As the de facto leaders continue to ignore this demand, the human rights of women and girls continue to be violently stripped away. The ban on women working in the humanitarian sector issued on December 24, 2022, has made the crises worse. Two-thirds of the Afghan population are in need of humanitarian assistance, most of them women, children, and historically marginalized groups, as they face the world's most extreme forms of gender persecution. Women are critical leaders, practitioners, and subject matter experts in the humanitarian sector. With extremely limited opportunities for economic independence, employment in the humanitarian sector is a lifeline to resources that allow thousands of Afghan women to have a measure of independence and provide for their families. According to the Humanitarian Access Working Group, approximately 87% of Afghan NGOs report they are still able to operate fully or partially since the ban on women NGO workers. However, the use of exemptions does not change the fact that the ban is still in place, in flagrant violation of international human rights law. The ban issued on April 4 on all women personnel of UN entities from working was an egregious escalation of the brutal suppression of women and all civil society. It is also a further display of the de facto authorities' rejection of an international normative framework for international law, human rights, and humanitarian action.
Consulting with the Taliban in this technical assessment without accounting for these recent bans, or their flagrant dismissal of the 2021 UN Security Council, would send a message that there are no repercussions for non-compliance with the United Nations system, and would embolden the Taliban to continue its crimes of gender persecution with impunity.
The second concern is that the technical assessment should reinforce punitive measures against the de facto authorities imposed through the existing sanctions regime. With the veto power of Russia and China on the Security Council, imposing new sanctions is not viable. It is essential to vigorously apply current sanctions and enforce them for crimes of gender persecution. Calling for additional listings of Taliban representatives complicit in human rights violations, especially those against women and girls, under the current sanctions would add pressure on the Security Council to take action on gender persecution without risk of diluting the existing framework.
To maximize the potential of the independent assessment to address the gravest rights violations, it is essential that it explicitly address and call for the protection and promotion of the human rights of Afghan women and girls and emphasize the urgent need for their full, equal, and meaningful participation in any decision-making regarding the future of their country). Afghan women's rights are not negotiable and cannot be subordinate to other facets of the humanitarian, human rights, economic, and political crises. Achieving just and lasting peace requires making gender equality a priority.
Further, the assessment must be conducted according to the terms of Resolution 2679 (2023) in close partnership and consultation with Afghan civil society, particularly Afghan women, women's rights organizations, and women human rights defenders and protesters living within and outside of Afghanistan. The assessment team must also work closely with ethnic and religious minorities, LGBTQI+ individuals, persons with disabilities, displaced persons, and all marginalized groups representing the full diversity of Afghan civil society. It is essential that all civil society representatives participating in the assessment are supported and protected to speak freely and provide input without fear of reprisals from the de facto authorities.
In the face of systemic unprecedented attacks against women and girls, which the United Nations recognizes as constituting "gender apartheid," it is essential that the team leading the assessment include individuals who have expertise in gender, peace, and security. Applying a gender lens to all components of the assessment would ensure that its findings and recommendations strongly reflect the real needs and priorities of women, girls, and all marginalized groups. The assessment must present a factual, unbiased, and transparent view of the lived experiences of Afghans since the Taliban assumed power and offer strong, unequivocal recommendations for creating a pathway toward freedom and justice under the rule of international law and human rights norms.
The credibility of the independent assessment is also contingent upon transparency in the process and in presenting its findings. It is critical that the assessment is based on transparent, meaningful, and ongoing communication with diverse Afghan women across civil society and that all individuals and organizations consulted are actively engaged in developing the final report that is presented to the Security Council. It is also essential that all civil society representatives are engaged in developing recommendations to UNAMA, the Security Council, and UN agencies, and are active participants in follow-up actions to implement and monitor progress on recommendations.
When the full report is presented in open session to the Security Council it must accurately reflect the concerns and perspectives of all Afghan women and civil society and be enjoined to a broader political strategy for peacebuilding in Afghanistan. To truly realize a secure, stable, prosperous, and inclusive Afghanistan, UNAMA and all stakeholders must establish an integrated and coherent system for humanitarian response and political peacebuilding. The independent assessment holds potential to achieve this goal, and it must not come at the price of prolonging security and stability for all Afghans.