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The UN Special Representative for Afghanistan, Roza Otunbayeva, said that the key features of the human rights situation in the country are a record of systemic discrimination against women and girls, repression of political dissent and free speech, a lack of meaningful representation of minorities, and ongoing instances of extrajudicial killing, arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture, and ill-treatment. UNIFEED
Description

STORY: UN / AFGHANISTAN
TRT: 04:37
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 20 DECEMBER 2023, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

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Shotlist

FILE – NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations Headquarters

20 DECEMBER 2023, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Roza Otunbayeva, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, United Nations / Head, United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA):
“The key features of the human rights situation in Afghanistan today are a record of systemic discrimination against women and girls, repression of political dissent and free speech, a lack of meaningful representation of minorities, and ongoing instances of extrajudicial killing, arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture, and ill-treatment.”
4. Med shot, UN Special Representative for Afghanistan seating
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Roza Otunbayeva, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, United Nations / Head, United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA):
“The returnees are the poorest of the poor. 80,0000 of them have nowhere in Afghanistan to go. The human rights consequences for women and girls forced to return are particularly severe.”
6. Med shot, UN Special Representative for Afghanistan seating
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Roza Otunbayeva, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, United Nations / Head, United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA):
“We are receiving more and more anecdotal evidence that girls of all ages can study at madrassas. It is not entirely clear, however, what constitutes a madrassa, if there is a standardized curriculum that allows modern education subjects, and how many girls are able to study in madrassas.”
8. Wide shot, Security Council
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Roza Otunbayeva, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, United Nations / Head, United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA):
“Time is passing while a generation of girls is falling behind. A failure to provide a sufficiently modern curriculum with equality of access for both girls and boys will make it impossible to implement the de facto authorities’ own agenda of economic self-sufficiency.”
10. Wide shot, delegates
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Roza Otunbayeva, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, United Nations / Head, United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA):
“Addressing Afghanistan’s climate crisis should transcend politics. The lack of water from recurring drought has reached a level of urgency that is felt across the country.”
12. Wide shot, Security Council
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Roza Otunbayeva, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, United Nations / Head, United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA):
“Addressing Afghanistan’s climate crisis should transcend politics. The lack of water from recurring drought has reached a level of urgency that is felt across the country.”
14. Wide shot, delegates
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Ramesh Rajasingham, Director of Coordination, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
“As we come to the end of 2023, humanitarian needs continue to push record levels, with more than 29 million people requiring humanitarian assistance – one million more than in January, and a 340 percent increase in the last five years.”
16. Med shot, Afghan Representative seating
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Naseer Ahmad Faiq, Chargé d'Affaires to the United Nations, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan:
“Let us reaffirm our resolve to not merely witness the unfolding tragedy in Afghanistan but to actively participate in the creation of a just, inclusive, and representative future. A future where every Afghan child can aspire to education, where women participate as equals in society, and where the basic tenets of freedom and human dignity are upheld. The Afghan people deserve no less, and we, as a community of nations, must deliver no less.”
18. Wide shot, Security Council
19. Pan left, UN Special Representative for Afghanistan walking to stakeout
20. SOUNDBITE (English) Roza Otunbayeva, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, United Nations / Head, United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA):
“Their direction now is really to put more children into education, and they found that madrassas is really something native and school, this is something western. This is what they said, literally.”
21. Pan right, UN Special Representative for Afghanistan leaving stakeout
22. Pan left, delegates walking to stakeout
23. SOUNDBITE (English) José de la Gasca, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ecuador:
“We demand that the Taliban respect the obligations contracted by the State of Afghanistan as a party to key international conventions and human rights treaties, particularly the Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which the country ratified in 2003, and the Convention on the Political Rights of Women, to which it acceded in 1966, as well as the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.”
24. Pan right, delegates leaving stakeout

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Storyline

The UN Special Representative for Afghanistan, Roza Otunbayeva, said that the key features of the human rights situation in the country are a record of systemic discrimination against women and girls, repression of political dissent and free speech, a lack of meaningful representation of minorities, and ongoing instances of extrajudicial killing, arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture, and ill-treatment.

Addressing the Security Council today ( 20 Dec), Otunbayeva noted that despite the recent release of two women activists, several human rights defenders and media workers continue to be arbitrarily detained.

According to Otunbayeva, the lack of progress in resolving human rights issues is a key factor behind the current impasse.

In the eastern and southern regions, there has been a dramatic surge in the number of Afghans returning from Pakistan following the Government of Pakistan’s announced repatriation of “illegal foreigners” from 1 November.

Since then, more than 450,000 Afghans have returned, more than 85 percent of whom are women and children.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that many have been stripped of their belongings, left disorientated by days of travel, and are arriving in poor medical condition.

They require both immediate attention and assistance at the border and longer-term support for reintegration.

The Special Representative for Afghanistan said, “The returnees are the poorest of the poor. 80,0000 of them have nowhere in Afghanistan to go. The human rights consequences for women and girls forced to return are particularly severe.”

On education, she said, “We are receiving more and more anecdotal evidence that girls of all ages can study at madrassas. It is not entirely clear, however, what constitutes a madrassa, if there is a standardized curriculum that allows modern education subjects, and how many girls are able to study in madrassas.”

Otunbayeva noted that the deteriorating quality of education and access to it is a grave concern and also affects boys.

She stated, “Time is passing while a generation of girls is falling behind. A failure to provide a sufficiently modern curriculum with equality of access for both girls and boys will make it impossible to implement the de facto authorities’ own agenda of economic self-sufficiency.”

Otunbayeva noted that the de-facto authorities say that the ban on girls’ education and women working are internal matters despite contravention of current treaty obligations.

She also said that Afghanistan is one of the most climate change-affected countries in the world, and it has contributed the least to its causes.

She stressed, “Addressing Afghanistan’s climate crisis should transcend politics. The lack of water from recurring drought has reached a level of urgency that is felt across the country.”

She warned, “Addressing Afghanistan’s climate crisis should transcend politics. The lack of water from recurring drought has reached a level of urgency that is felt across the country.”

Ramesh Rajasingham, OCHA’s Director of Coordination, said, “As we come to the end of 2023, humanitarian needs continue to push record levels, with more than 29 million people requiring humanitarian assistance – one million more than in January, and a 340 percent increase in the last five years.”

Representing his country, Naseer Ahmad Faiq, Afghan Chargé d'Affaires to the United Nations, said, “Let us reaffirm our resolve to not merely witness the unfolding tragedy in Afghanistan but to actively participate in the creation of a just, inclusive, and representative future. A future where every Afghan child can aspire to education, where women participate as equals in society, and where the basic tenets of freedom and human dignity are upheld. The Afghan people deserve no less, and we, as a community of nations, must deliver no less.”

After the Security Council, The Special Representative for Afghanistan addressed journalists and, answering a question said that the de-facto authorities’ direction is now “to put more children into education” and that they literally said that madrassas “is really something native and school, this is something western.”

Early this morning, Council members that have signed on to the Shared Commitments on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS)—Albania, Brazil, Ecuador, France, Gabon, Japan, Malta, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the UK, and the US—read a joint statement to journalists.

They demanded that the Taliban respect the obligations contracted by the State of Afghanistan as a party to key international conventions and human rights treaties, particularly the Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which the country ratified in 2003, and the Convention on the Political Rights of Women, to which it acceded in 1966, as well as the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

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