Afghan government claims ‘positive’ progress on women’s rights despite UN criticism

Afghanistan’s government has claimed progress on women’s rights, citing efforts to tackle forced marriage and inheritance disputes, after United Nations officials criticised restrictions on Afghan women and girls during a Security Council debate in New York.

Saif-ul-Islam Khyber, spokesperson for the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, said on Wednesday that positive changes had taken place during the past five years. He said women’s rights must be protected under Islamic Sharia law.

Responding to the criticism, Khyber said, “Human rights should not be used as a propaganda tool. The rights of women and all human beings are neither a subject of political bargaining nor a means of imposing individual standards.”

The ministry said officials have handled 232 cases involving women’s rights in Kandahar during the past two months, including dozens of inheritance disputes, forced marriage cases and more than 130 domestic violence cases.

In December 2021, Afghanistan’s leadership issued a decree prohibiting forced marriage and recognising widows’ inheritance rights. Khyber also cited a women's right to own property, choose a husband and conduct business, with protections, under Islamic law.

UN expresses concern

At Tuesday’s UN meeting, Tammy Bruce, the United States Deputy Representative to the UN, condemned restrictions on education and employment.

“In Afghanistan, the Taliban continue to to deny young women pathways to receive an education, secure jobs or receive training,” she said. 

“Over the past five years, the Taliban have systematically reversed decades of hard-won progress on women’s participation in peace and security. These practices are unacceptable and must cease immediately,” she added.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for greater support for women-led organisations and urged action on girls’ education.

“Girls are being denied access to education that they both need and have a fundamental right to receive,” he said.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), more than 2.6 million girls have been denied secondary education in Afghanistan since 2021. Women also remain barred from universities are restricted from accessing medical training like midwifery and nursing.

Read more: 

• Around 10.7 million Afghan women and girls in need of aid - OCHA
• Afghan aid groups struggle to keep women working under Taliban restrictions

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United Nations Afghanistan Women's rights