Situation of Human Rights of Women and Girls in Afghanistan

A/HRC/RES/50/14View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the Human Rights Council, under agenda item 1 Organizational and procedural matters, published in 2022.

What subjects does this mandate have?

6 subjects

Afghanistan Gender Equality Gender-Based Violence Human Rights Human Rights Violations Women's Rights

What’s in this document?

12 operative paragraphs

Condemns in the strongest possible terms all human rights violations and abuses committed against all individuals, including women and girls, in Afghanistan, including all forms of discrimination and violence, including sexual and gender-based violence;

Reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights by all women, girls and children in Afghanistan, including the right to freedom of movement, the right to education, the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, including their sexual and reproductive health, the right to work and the right of access to justice on an equal basis with others;

Calls for an immediate end to all human rights violations and abuses against all individuals in Afghanistan, including all women and girls, respect for all their human rights and respect for the right of all women to actively and equally participate in all aspects of civic, economic, political and public life, and to ensure that law and policy reforms and practices are not discriminatory, in text or effect, against women and girls and are consistent with international human rights law and standards;

Calls upon the Taliban in particular to reverse the policies and practices that currently restrict the human rights and fundamental freedoms of Afghan women and girls, to ensure that women and girls have opportunities and access to inclusive and quality education at all levels, equal to those afforded to men and boys, and as promised, to immediately open schools for girls of all ages;

Calls for measures to ensure that local women’s rights organizations and local organizations led by women can continue to carry out their work all over Afghanistan and support women and girls;

Also calls for measures to ensure that victims of sexual and gender-based violence have access to justice and to an effective remedy and reparations, with a human rights and gender perspective, including measures to guarantee their protection, and support, including any psychosocial or medical needs;

Reaffirms that the right to education, enshrined in international human right law, can help to enable the realization of many other human rights, particularly for girls;

Reiterates its call for an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned process for the establishment of a participative, inclusive and representative government, including with regard to gender and all ethnic and religious minorities, and ensuring the full, equal, effective and meaningful participation of women and youth in decision-making positions and processes;

Calls for the reinstatement of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission or the establishment of a similar independent institution in compliance with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles), and the reinstatement of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs;

Calls upon all relevant actors in Afghanistan to cooperate fully with the special procedures of the Human Rights Council and the treaty bodies, and other international bodies seized with the situation in Afghanistan, to grant them unhindered access to the country without delay, and to provide them with all necessary information and support;

Requests the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to organize an enhanced interactive dialogue during its fifty-first session, with the participation of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, other relevant human rights mechanisms, United Nations bodies and agencies, including the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, and non-governmental organizations, including Afghan women’s rights organizations in Afghanistan and the diaspora;

Decides to remain seized of the matter.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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