Guterres Warns of Intensifying Repression of Women, Girls in Afghanistan, Urges Support for Women-Led Organizations

Guterres Warns of Intensifying Repression of Women, Girls in Afghanistan, Urges Support for Women-Led Organizations
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United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has warned that women and girls in Afghanistan are facing increasingly severe restrictions and violations of their fundamental rights, particularly their right to education and participation in public life. He called on the international community to strengthen support for local organizations led by women.

According to Afghan media reports, Guterres delivered the warning during a UN Security Council meeting focused on the Women, Peace and Security agenda. He identified Afghanistan, alongside Mali, Yemen and Somalia, as countries where women and girls continue to face mounting restrictions and rights violations. He noted that women and girls in conflict-affected regions remain exposed to violence, discrimination, deprivation and abuse, while girls are denied access to education and women working in politics, journalism and human rights advocacy face marginalization and targeting.

The UN chief stressed that women-led local organizations in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Syria are essential to international efforts to protect women’s rights and ensure their meaningful participation in peace processes. However, he warned that declining international funding has forced some women’s organizations to suspend their activities, contributed to the closure of clinics and safe shelters, and deprived women and girls of vital humanitarian services.

Guterres also highlighted the contrast between rising global military expenditure and shrinking humanitarian assistance. Global military spending reached approximately $2.9 trillion last year, he said, urging governments to honor their development commitments and resume funding for organizations supporting women and girls affected by conflict.

He criticized the gap between international pledges and concrete action, noting that 26 years after the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, implementation remains inadequate. Women accounted for only 5 percent of negotiators across 57 peace processes last year, while fewer than one-fifth of peace agreements referred to women, girls, gender-based violence or sexual violence. Guterres described these figures as unacceptable and emphasized that women’s participation in peace negotiations must be meaningful rather than symbolic.

The secretary-general further revealed that the United Nations documented more than 9,700 cases of conflict-related sexual violence last year, warning that the actual number of victims is likely significantly higher than reported figures.

Guterres called for binding targets and quotas to increase women’s representation in peace negotiations and ceasefire agreements, greater financial resources for their protection, and accountability for perpetrators of abuses. He also urged governments to incorporate Women, Peace and Security commitments into national legislation and policies while strengthening the economic security of women and girls.

Concluding his remarks, Guterres stressed that protecting women’s and girls’ rights and ensuring their participation in decision-making are essential to achieving lasting peace and building more stable societies. “Equality is not a dream; it is a decision,” he said.