UN Security Council to Hold Meeting on Afghanistan in September

Photo: AP Photo/Seth Wenig

The United Nations Security Council has announced that its quarterly meeting on Afghanistan will take place in September.

According to the Council’s report, Roza Otunbayeva, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and head of UNAMA, will present her final report at the session, after which her mission in Afghanistan will come to an end.

Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, is also scheduled to address the meeting.

The Security Council highlighted the decline in international aid and the Taliban’s interference in its distribution, stressing that the human rights situation in Afghanistan, particularly for women and girls, remains dire.

The Council pointed to ongoing and repeated human rights violations by the Taliban, including death threats against dozens of female UN employees in Kabul, the detention and harassment of women for not observing the Taliban’s dress code, and broad restrictions on freedom of expression and the right to education.

The report noted that the Taliban are seeking to strengthen their foreign relations and regard recognition by Moscow as an achievement.

It also stated that on August 8, 33 members of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) were killed while crossing the Durand Line into Pakistan.

This comes as earlier UN experts urged the Human Rights Council to reject Taliban authoritarianism and counter efforts to normalize relations with the group.