Afghanistan

Memo to the UN secretary-general: Establish a UN conflict prevention mechanism for the Afghanistan region

By Laurie Nathan and Nilofar Sakhi

The risk of conflict between Afghanistan and its neighbors has been rising since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, and is now at a critical point. The UN has tools that have lowered the risk of major conflict in other tense neighborhoods. It's time to deploy them for Afghanistan.

Don’t look away: The Taliban’s mistreatment of women has global ramifications

By Samira Abrar

The Taliban’s impunity for its violations of international human rights law poses grave risks to women’s rights worldwide.

Strategic Litigation Quarterly Newsletter: It’s time for a Syria Victims Fund.

The latest updates on the Strategic Litigation Project's work advancing human rights and accountability.

Afghan women’s rights are not a lost cause. Here’s what the international community can do.

By Parwana Paikan

The United Nations must prioritize Afghan women's rights in its policy agenda and avoid forms of engagement that could embolden the Taliban.

Experts react: Pakistan just carried out airstrikes on Afghanistan. What’s next?

By Atlantic Council experts

How will Pakistan’s strikes inside Afghanistan affect the already tense relations between Islamabad and Kabul? Our experts share their insights.

Why the Taliban’s persecution of women meets the bar of a crime against humanity

By Azadah Raz Mohammad

Codifying gender apartheid as a crime against humanity is an important step toward holding the Taliban accountable.

This International Women’s Day, hold the Taliban to account for gender apartheid

By Azadah Raz Mohammad, Metra Mehran

Gender apartheid must be included as a standalone crime against humanity in international law. The United Nations has an opportunity to make that happen.

Inside Afghanistan’s gender apartheid: Listen as women reveal the impact of the Taliban’s oppressive decrees

Since the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, women have battled against increasingly severe restrictions on education, employment, and daily public life. This report, a joint effort by the Civic Engagement Project and the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center, underscores their remarkable resilience and unyielding spirit in the face of gender apartheid.

Twice under the Taliban: The repeated nightmare of my generation

By Horia Mosadiq

The deepening human rights crisis under the Taliban underscores the dire need for global attention on the plight of Afghanistan’s women.