Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon chaired the Security Council debate on the UN Special Political Mission in Afghanistan, focusing on the deteriorating situation of women and girls. This is the first in a series of debates the Minister will chair during the month of September, when Slovenia holds the presidency of the Security Council and world leaders traditionally gather for the United Nations General Assembly.

“The Taliban’s relentless series of actions depriving Afghan women and girls of their rights may amount to systematic persecution, a crime under the Rome Statute. We cannot turn a blind eye and remain silent while half the Afghan population is being oppressed. The future of any country, including Afghanistan, cannot be prosperous unless it is inclusive. For the past three years, girls in Afghanistan have had the ‘privilege’ of only basic education up to the age of 12. For three years, women in Afghanistan have been denied the right to acquire knowledge and skills to contribute to the future development of their society. Recent legislative developments, which have imposed even more sweeping restrictions on the personal and public conduct of women and girls, paint an even bleaker future for the Afghan people,” Minister Fajon stressed in the debate. She raised the question of what the international community could do to help and echoed other participants that it was imperative to continue to invest in and empower Afghan women and girls. “The international community must create space for the voices of silenced Afghan women to be heard.  Slovenia will continue to hear, listen to and support Afghan women,” concluded Minister Fajon.

The debate featured special briefings by Ms Roza Otunbayeva, UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), Ms Sima Sami Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women, and Mina, a representative of Afghan civil society who wished to remain anonymous due to the pressure. Minister Fajon met separately with Ms Otunbayeva and the representative of Afghan civil society thanking them both for their important work. Recalling that the presence of UNAMA in Afghanistan remains crucial, she assured the Afghan civil society representative that Slovenia will continue to work to ensure that the voice of silenced Afghan women is heard in the international community.

Prior to the debate, representatives of the Security Council – Ecuador, France, Guyana, Japan, Malta, the Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America – presented the Shared Commitments for the Principles of Women, Peace and Security at a joint press stakeout. “We are deeply concerned about the deteriorating situation of women and girls in Afghanistan. The Taliban have taken a number of measures that severely violate their rights and restrict their participation in public life. It’s been over 1,100 days of blatant abuse and trampling of women’s rights in Afghanistan. Nowhere else in the world has the human rights situation deteriorated to this extent,” said Minister Fajon on behalf of all the signatories of the Statement on Shared Commitments and as President of the UN Security Council. “We call on the Taliban to immediately end all discriminatory practices that not only restrict the human rights and fundamental freedoms of Afghan women and girls, but also undermine the joint efforts of the Taliban and the international community to improve the lives of all Afghans,” Minister Fajon added.

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