The United Nations Security Council will meet on Thursday to vote on a draft resolution to extend the mandate of the U.N. team monitoring sanctions on the Taliban, according to the council’s program of work.
The draft resolution proposes extending the mandate of the sanctions monitoring team until Feb. 17. The team supports the Afghanistan sanctions committee established under Security Council Resolution 1988.
According to council documents, the sanctions regime includes asset freezes, travel bans and an arms embargo targeting individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated with the Taliban. Designation criteria include activities or support that threaten the peace, security and stability of Afghanistan.
The Security Council noted in its report that despite Taliban claims of improved security conditions, women, girls and minority groups have not benefited from the situation.
The Taliban have repeatedly called for the lifting of U.N. sanctions, saying they seek positive engagement with the United Nations and its member states.
The council said the mandate of the Afghanistan sanctions committee has not been substantively updated since the Taliban returned to power, aside from humanitarian exemptions introduced under Resolution 2615 in December 2021.
The sanctions committee is a subsidiary body of the Security Council tasked with overseeing the sanctions list, reviewing exemption requests and assisting member states with implementation, supported by reports and recommendations from the monitoring team.
The monitoring team also provides support to the UN sanctions committees on IS and al Qaeda.
Under Security Council Resolution 2734, adopted on June 10, 2024, the team’s mandate to support sanctions committees was extended until June 2027.
Council members received the monitoring team’s most recent report on Nov. 17 last year.
