United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Thursday unanimously adopted a resolution condemning Taliban's decision to ban Afghan female staffers of the UN from working. The resolution stated that Taliban’s anti-women policies undermine human rights and humanitarian principles.
The UNSC members called on the Taliban to swiftly reverse its policies and practices restricting women and girls’ enjoyment of their human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Except for the 15 members of the Security Council, including Russia and China, who have good relations with the Taliban, 90 other UN member countries too supported the UNSC resolution, which indicated the opposition of most governments to the policies of the Taliban.
The UNSC resolution has been drafted by the United Arab Emirates and Japan and described the ban on Afghan women’s work and education as unprecedented in the history of the United Nations.
Lana Zaki Nusseibeh, the UAE’s ambassador to the United Nations, said that this resolution has been supported by 90 countries, ranging from "Afghanistan's neighbours, Islamic countries, and other regions of the world.
“This cross-regional support makes today’s fundamental message even more significant: the world will not sit by silently as women in Afghanistan are erased from society,” Nusseibeh told the UNSC.
Robert A Wood, the United States ambassador to the UN, said that the United Nations and its member states will not remain on the sidelines when women and girls are deprived of exercising their human rights.
This is the first time that the Security Council has issued a resolution condemning the behaviour of the Taliban after the group returned to power in August 2021. China and Russia, the two members of the Security Council, have not agreed with a strong position of the UNSC against the Taliban.
