Three UN agencies responsible for improving the lives of women and children around the world further raised the alarm over Taliban rule one year after the hard-line militant group captured control of Afghanistan, saying that the last 12 months have dealt a blow to "all aspects" of their rights.
The warning echoes criticisms by Western leaders and international rights advocates that coincide with the anniversary of the Taliban grabbing control as a UN-backed government fled and U.S.-led international troops withdrew in August 2021 after two decades of war.
"A year of Taliban rule in Afghanistan has led to a deterioration in the lives of women and girls, affecting all aspects of their human rights," the UN quoted UN Women, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) as saying.
Taliban leaders, whose government hasn't been internationally recognized, organized public acknowledgments throughout Afghanistan of their first year in power.
But critics, including the United Nations, have consistently criticized Taliban-led Afghanistan's failure to include women and girls, as well as ethnic, religious, and other groups, in Afghan life.
Women are still excluded from public life and many jobs, and girls are routinely forbidden to attend schools, in addition to strict controls on movement and attire.
"It has been a year since the Taliban takeover in #Afghanistan," the UN said in a tweet introducing the report. "During this time, women and girls have seen increasing disrespect for their #HumanRights including access to health care and education."
In May, the UN Security Council issued a statement of “deep concern” about the erosion of the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan and called on the Taliban to “swiftly reverse” their policies and “to adhere to their commitments to reopen schools for all female students without further delay.”
Human Rights Watch (HRW)'s Afghanistan researcher warned recently that the Afghan people were "living a human rights nightmare, victims of both Taliban cruelty and international apathy."