Foreign ministers from 17 countries, including Canada and Germany, in a statement called on the Taliban to repeal restrictive laws and decrees issued by their Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, expressing deep concern over “systematic human rights violations” in Afghanistan.
The joint statement, released on Saturday, February 15, followed a meeting hosted by Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly, where women foreign ministers from around the world discussed the worsening conditions for Afghan women and girls.
The statement condemned the Taliban’s December 2024 decree banning women from medical education, calling it a direct threat to the country’s already fragile healthcare system. “If not reversed, Afghanistan will lose a generation of women health professionals in a society where cultural norms often require women to be treated exclusively by other women,” it read. “This severely jeopardizes the health and well-being of Afghan women and children in a country already facing one of the highest maternal mortality rates globally.”
The ministers also denounced the Taliban’s ongoing ban on secondary and higher education for girls, calling Afghanistan “the only country in the world where women and girls cannot attend secondary school or obtain higher education.” The statement described this policy as “a personal tragedy for each Afghan girl and a collective blow to Afghanistan’s long-term development, economic growth, and stability.”
The statement also demanded the repeal of the Taliban’s so-called morality laws, which have further restricted women’s rights. “These decrees aim literally to silence Afghan women and girls and confine them to their homes,” the ministers wrote. “There is no viable future—no long-term peace, prosperity, or legitimacy—for any state that seeks to effectively erase women from public life.”
The foreign ministers reaffirmed their support for international mechanisms to hold the Taliban accountable, including the United Nations Human Rights Council’s ongoing discussions on Afghanistan and efforts by Canada, Australia, Germany, and the Netherlands to take formal steps under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The initiative is now backed by 25 other countries.
The Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice dismissed the statement as “baseless.” Ministry spokesman Saif-ur-Rahman Khyber told Amu TV that “women and girls in Afghanistan have rights and freedoms in accordance with Sharia law” and rejected claims that Afghanistan is the most oppressive country for women.
The meeting in Ottawa was attended by foreign ministers from Andorra, Australia, Colombia, Ecuador, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Iceland, Jamaica, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Mongolia, Slovenia, and Sweden, as well as the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
The statement also emphasized the need for Afghan women to be included in any discussions about the country’s future, including the U.N.-facilitated Doha process. “Afghan women have demonstrated time and time again that they will not give up the fight in claiming their rights, despite violent repression by the Taliban,” the ministers wrote. “They’ve shown incredible courage, and we must not give up on them.”
Over the past three years, Taliban leaders have issued multiple decrees severely restricting women’s access to education, employment, and public life. In 2024, Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada formalized these restrictions into a four-chapter, 35-article law, which critics say has stripped Afghan women and girls of their basic rights.
