UN envoy presses Taliban on women’s rights during Kabul visit

ISLAMABAD: United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo concluded a high-level visit to Kabul on Sunday, where she pressed the Taliban to lift restrictions on women’s access to education, employment, and public life, according to a United Nations statement.

During talks with senior Taliban officials, DiCarlo raised deep concerns over the increasingly severe limits placed on women’s roles, including restrictions affecting female UN staff and broader societal bans on women’s participation in public life. She urged the authorities to immediately rescind these measures to improve the humanitarian and human rights situation in the country. 

DiCarlo praised the vital role Afghan women working for the United Nations play in supporting humanitarian and development efforts across the country. 

According to the UN statement, she also met separately with Afghan women and civil society representatives to discuss the human rights situation in Afghanistan, underscoring the UN's concern over the status of women and girls in the country.

The meetings come as Afghanistan remains under Taliban rule, with girls banned from attending school beyond the sixth grade and severe restrictions on women's employment and movement. Afghanistan remains heavily dependent on humanitarian assistance amid economic isolation, banking restrictions, and widespread poverty, with UN agencies warning of prolonged vulnerability for millions. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that 21.9 million people (roughly 45% of the population) will require assistance in 2026.

Doha process meeting

In a separate development during the visit, Taliban officials said DiCarlo and Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani discussed continued engagement on the UN-led Doha Process, a diplomatic framework aimed at easing Afghanistan’s political, security, and humanitarian crises.

According to the Taliban’s Ministry of Interior, the talks covered international engagement, counter-narcotics cooperation, economic stability, and private-sector restrictions, as well as the effectiveness of UN humanitarian assistance, Bakhtar News Agency reported on Saturday.

The Taliban statement said that DiCarlo announced that the next round of Doha Process working group meetings will be held in Kabul.

The United Nations has not formally confirmed the location of the next working group sessions, which have previously been held in Qatar's capital.