Chair, 

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States. 

1. The EU and its Member States are committed to the respect, protection, and fulfilment of human rights, including labour rights. We promote universal ratification and effective implementation of fundamental ILO Conventions and support the ILO in developing and promoting international labour standards and supervising their application. 

2. The principle of equality and non-discrimination is a fundamental element of international human rights law. In the European Union’s founding treaties and the Constitutions of the EU Member States, the prohibition of discrimination is a core principle. 

3. Since our last discussion on this case in 2023, no progress has been made. We remain deeply concerned about the continuing deterioration of the overall human rights, including labour rights, and fundamental freedoms in Afghanistan, since the Taliban forcefully took power in August 2021. This is in contraction to Afghanistan’s obligations under International Labour Organization’s conventions. 

4. We deeply deplore that discrimination, segregation, disrespect for human dignity, gender-based violence and exclusion of women and girls from public life have become an institutionalized system, under which women and girls have been largely excluded from education, and removed from the workforce, including in public administration, medical and legal professions. They also continue to be largely excluded from working in sectors providing humanitarian and basic needs support, despite women’s important role in providing aid. Other restrictions, for example on driving, using public transport, acquiring insurance, telephones, indirectly impact women’s capacity to work, decimating their financial autonomy and independence. The restrictions on Afghan women are disproportionately affecting their ability to sustain themselves, thereby further diminishing their enjoyment of fundamental rights and freedoms. We share the regret of the Committee that women were not allowed to participate in the 2024 National Labour Conference. 

5. The European Union and its Member States are appalled by the so-called “Law on the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice” which confirms and extends severe restrictions on the life of Afghans imposed by the Taliban, including imposed dress codes. The decree also imposes that the voices of women must not be heard in public, which effectively deprives Afghan women of their fundamental right to freedom of expression and participation in public life. 

6. We are deeply concerned over the Taliban’s decisions in December 2024 to suspend the medical training of women and girls at public and private institutions, which will have devastating consequences for all Afghans, especially mothers and children– and will further destabilize an already fragile healthcare system. We call for the immediate reversal of these unacceptable rules, practices and policies. 

7. We fully echo the call of the Committee of Experts to urgently remove all bans, discriminatory practices, and unequal treatment based on sex, imposed on girls and women to prohibit, limit or impede their access to secondary and higher education, vocational training, employment and all types of occupations in all sectors. Women’s participation in education and in the workforce is a meter of equality – and it is essential for the self-sufficiency, development and prosperity of any nation. 

8. We share the Committee’s urgent request to the de facto authorities to prohibit in law direct and indirect discrimination based on at least all the grounds listed in Article 1 of the Convention to which Afghanistan is a State Party, as well as any other grounds determined in consultation with employers’ and workers’ organizations. 

9. We call for specific actions to ensure access to education and employment for girls and women with disabilities, who are often subject to multiple, aggravated, or intersecting forms of discrimination and disadvantages. 

10. We urge the de facto authorities in Afghanistan to ensure access to nondiscriminatory formal justice mechanisms and effective remedies and to organize activities to raise public awareness of the principles of non-discrimination and equality. 

11. We urge the Taliban to put an end to these systematic and systemic abuses against Afghan women and girls, which may amount to gender persecution, which is a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, to which Afghanistan is a State Party. The de facto authorities must abide by Afghanistan’s international obligations, including under CEDAW and CRC. 

12. The EU continues to stand by the women and girls of Afghanistan, and by all those in Afghanistan whose rights are violated by the Taliban. 

Thank you, Chair.