On the situation in Afghanistan: supporting women and communities affected by the recent earthquakes

G.whereas in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, the EU approved EUR 1 million in humanitarian emergency funding to address the most urgent needs of the affected population; whereas this additional round of assistance complements the EUR 161 million in humanitarian aid already earmarked in 2025 for organisations across Afghanistan; whereas EU humanitarian aid in the country is solely channelled through humanitarian partners;

H.whereas female humanitarian workers, supported by UN Women and other UN agencies, have played a critical role in reaching affected villages, providing healthcare and psychosocial support, distributing aid and serving as a bridge for women and young girls;

I.whereas the Taliban have brazenly and systematically violated international norms and resorted to highly repressive tactics, specifically targeting Afghanistan’s female population, ethnic minorities and human rights defenders;

J.whereas through a pattern of systematic violence, repression and censorship, the Taliban have alienated Afghanistan from the international community;

K.whereas from 30 September to 2 October 2025, the Taliban imposed a nationwide internet shutdown, disrupting communication, flights, banking and essential services, and depriving millions of Afghans of access to information and education, in particular cutting off one of the last remaining lifelines for women and girls to pursue learning opportunities;

1.Strongly condemns the Taliban’s numerous gender-based restrictions and discriminatory policies that prevent Afghan women from accessing education, medical training, healthcare and humanitarian aid; deplores the recent removal of books authored by women from university curricula as part of a new ban that also outlaws the teaching of human rights and sexual harassment;

2.Expresses profound concern about the disproportionate impact of the recent earthquake on women and girls, including widespread loss of life, heightened risks of gender-based violence, inadequate healthcare, the destruction of livelihoods and lack of safe shelter;

3.Condemns the perpetration of female genital mutilation and other despicable forms of gender-based violence and discrimination, as well as the proliferation of child marriages;

4.Calls for the immediate reinstatement of the full participation of women and girls in public life, in particular their access to education and the labour market; reiterates its calls for the EU and the Member States to take all necessary measures to allow Afghan women to meaningfully take part in international forums and negotiations;

5.Urges Afghanistan’s de facto authorities to put an end to the systemic and systematic abuses against Afghan women and girls, which may amount to gender persecution, a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, to which Afghanistan is a State Party;

6.Urges the Taliban authorities to immediately lift restrictions on female humanitarian workers and students, to allow women to participate fully in disaster response, and to guarantee women’s unrestricted access to healthcare, education and emergency services; encourages the EU and its partners to further strengthen women’s participation in humanitarian response teams, closely monitor and report on women’s access to aid, and dismantle barriers created by restrictions and discriminatory policies put in place by the Taliban;

7.Emphasises the importance of prioritising women’s needs in humanitarian response; urges both local and international responders to ensure that women and girls receive equitable, dignified and timely assistance, and to ensure, in particular, their protection from violence and access to safe spaces;

8.Commends the enormous courage, resilience and dedication of Afghan women and civil society actors who continue to support their communities and advocate for human rights in spite of life-threatening restrictions and reprisals;

9.Urges the EU, the Member States and other donor states to increase humanitarian aid and funding to support basic needs and livelihoods and ensure flexible funding for non-governmental organisations and their female aid workers;

10.Supports the efforts of Afghan civil society to hold the Taliban accountable for their heinous crimes against women and girls, including through international justice mechanisms, such as the International Criminal Court, and the establishment of a possible UN independent investigative mechanism;

11.Insists that the Taliban must fulfil their counterterrorism commitments, including preventing al-Qaeda, Daesh, ISIS-K and other terrorist groups and individuals from using Afghan soil to threaten or violate the security of any other country, refusing to host members of these groups and preventing them from carrying out recruitment, training or fundraising activities; expresses concern that these commitments are not being met;

12.Urges all relevant partners to step up their efforts to dismantle all terrorist financing networks, including ending the misuse of hawala money transfer networks and international donations for this purpose, in order to fight radicalisation, extremism and the recruitment tools that Afghan terrorist organisations continue to rely on;

13.Calls for the EU and the Member States to increase pressure on the Taliban, including through targeted sanctions, asset freezes and travel bans against Taliban leaders responsible for systematic human rights violations;

14.Calls on all members of the international community and, in particular, regional actors to take all the necessary steps to curtail any international and customary law violations at the hands of Afghanistan’s de facto authorities;

15.Stresses the importance of advancing women’s rights and equality of opportunity between men and women worldwide, which are crucial in order to uphold human rights; emphasises that women and girls continue to suffer from discrimination and violence, especially in countries under strict Islamic regimes, and that such societies fail to provide them with equal rights under the law and equal access to education, healthcare, decent work, and political and economic representation;

16.Decries the recent intentional disruption of internet connections across several provinces by the Taliban;

17.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the United Nations, and the de facto authorities of Afghanistan.