Afghan Women Have Not Given Up — Nor Can We”: UN Women Chief Urges Action Amid Growing Crisis

UN Headquarters, New York – June 23, 2025

In a stark and emotional briefing before the UN Security Council, UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous delivered a powerful appeal not to abandon Afghanistan’s women and girls, warning that their repression is deepening while the world’s attention drifts.

“Afghan women have not given up. Nor can we. We must not look away,” Bahous said, urging immediate global action as she detailed a country where women’s rights have not only been rolled back but structurally erased.

Nine months after her last briefing, Bahous painted a picture of accelerating deterioration: no restrictions have been reversed, and the repression of women has now solidified into law. “Repression has become more systematic and has calcified into structure and law,” she told the Council.

A Humanitarian Crisis Overlooked

The situation is unfolding amid broader global instability, including in Iran — home to over three million Afghan refugees. “The growing regional insecurity only deepens the hardships faced by Afghan women and girls,” Bahous said, listing compounding threats of poverty, displacement, gender-based violence, and severe deprivation.

Despite repeated UN resolutions demanding unimpeded access for female aid workers, humanitarian efforts are being choked by bureaucratic and legal restrictions imposed by the Taliban, alongside shrinking funding.

‘They Lead, Even in Silence’

Still, Afghan women remain resilient. Bahous highlighted the story of Sama, a female entrepreneur in Bamyan who, through solar energy support from UN Women, expanded her small shop and doubled her income. In just one year, 35 women-led businesses in the area generated over $62,500 — a testament to what Afghan women can achieve when given even the smallest chance.

“They have opened underground schools, organized in silence, and built lives in slivers of space left to them,” Bahous said. “They have shown unshakable determination, even when the world faltered.”

Bleak Realities: Hunger, Displacement, and a Lost Generation

Despite isolated successes, the broader reality remains grim. A third of the population — mostly women and children — are facing malnutrition and even starvation. Health facilities are shutting down. Maternal deaths are rising. Girls are increasingly pulled from school or praying to fail exams just to delay being pulled out.

“Why invest in hope, when hope is banned?” Bahous asked.

The latest Afghanistan Gender Index released by UN Women underscores the crisis:

78% of Afghan women aged 18–29 are neither in work, education, nor training.

Afghan men are nearly three times more likely to have bank accounts or access mobile money.

Rates of intimate partner violence are climbing.

Education bans alone are projected to cost the Afghan economy $1.5 billion by 2030.

“This is not just a crisis for girls,” she said. “It is generational damage.”

A Four-Point Call to Action

Bahous laid out four key recommendations to the Security Council:

1. Avoid legitimizing repression: International engagement with the Taliban must not normalize discriminatory policies. Afghan women’s participation must be central to all diplomatic processes, including Doha and beyond.

2. Support accountability: The Council should bolster efforts to document and investigate violations, including convening a special session and expanding existing sanctions criteria to include gender-based violations.

3. Fund women-led solutions: At least 30% of aid should go directly to women and girls, particularly grassroots organizations already reaching those in need.

4. Invest in digital literacy: With access to physical education blocked, digital tools can provide crucial alternatives for learning, counseling, and entrepreneurship.

"No Justification for Delay"

In closing, Bahous made an unflinching appeal: “The systematic oppression of 20 million people simply because they are women is utterly unacceptable.”

“This Council has the tools. The world has made promises. There is no justification for delay. We must match our words with action — and we must do so now.”