The situation in Afghanistan - Security Council, 9942nd meeting

United Nations engagement with Afghanistan’s de facto authorities seeks to address, not normalize, restrictive, discriminatory policies, top officials tell Security Council.

• Categories: Meetings & Events / Security Council
• Video Length: 02:11:24
• Production Date: 23 June 2025
• Asset Language: Arabic; English; French; Russian; Spanish; Chinese; Original
• Personal Subject: ROZA OTUNBAYEVA; JOYCE MSUYA; SIMA SAMI BAHOUS
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS ASSISTANCE MISSION IN AFGHANISTAN - UNAMA; TALIBAN; UNITED NATIONS OFFICE FOR THE COORDINATION OF HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS - OCHA; UNITED NATIONS ENTITY FOR GENDER EQUALITY AND THE EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN - UN-WOMEN
• Subject Topical: AFGHANISTAN SITUATION; WOMEN'S RIGHTS; HUMAN RIGHTS; NARCOTIC DRUGS; DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE; ECONOMIC GROWTH; PEACE AND SECURITY; EDUCATION; DISCRIMINATION; HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE; EMERGENCY RELIEF; REPATRIATION; FINANCIAL SITUATION; POLITICAL CONDITIONS; TERRORISM
• Geographic Subject: AFGHANISTAN
• MAMS Id: 3416220
• Parent Id: 3415371
• Alternate Title: MTG SC 9942 AFGHANISTAN 23 JUN 2025 AM

Description

Highlighting Afghanistan’s newly promulgated discriminatory law on the “propagation of virtue and prevention of vice”, senior United Nations officials briefed the Council today on continuing engagement with its de facto authorities without accepting their restrictive policies as normal. 

Roza Otunbayeva, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), detailed the Organization’s “Comprehensive Approach” in that country, which “does not seek to normalize the status quo, but rather ensure that multiple key issues of concern — in particular upholding the country’s international obligations — remain at the core of engagement efforts”, she said.

 The Comprehensive Approach aims to maintain open channels for discussion on women’s and human rights, as well as the de facto authorities’ grievances regarding frozen assets, sanctions and the need for development assistance. In a few days in Doha, the UN is convening meetings of the working groups on counternarcotics and the private sector, she reported. 

“The de facto authorities have provided relative stability and security, promoted modest economic growth and foreign investment, initiated dormant infrastructure projects and deepened their diplomatic ties abroad, especially within the region. But, they also continue to implement highly restrictive and discriminatory policies on the Afghan people,” she said, such as the “law on the propagation of virtue and prevention of vice”, which impacts the human rights of all Afghans, especially women and minorities. 

• Briefer: Ms. Roza Otunbayeva, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan 
• Briefer: Ms. Joyce Msuya, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator 
• Briefer: Ms. Sima Sami Bahous, Executive Director, UN-Women 
• Statements: All Council members, with Guyana speaking on behalf of: Algeria, Guyana, Sierra Leone, Somalia 
• Statements: Afghanistan, India, Qatar, Islamic Republic of Iran 

Related Sites and Documents

UN Meetings Coverage

S/2025/372

S/PV.9942