Ireland calls for sustained global focus on Afghan women’s rights

Ireland’s Foreign Minister Helen McEntee has called for the situation of women and girls’ rights in Afghanistan to remain at the centre of global attention on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Ireland’s mission to the United Nations wrote on X on Tuesday, 31 September, that the session was held to highlight the situation of women’s and girls’ rights in Afghanistan. According to the mission, the event also stressed that international engagement on Afghanistan must be based on human rights principles.

Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, women’s rights activist Giso Yari, human rights activist Mitra Mehran, and former diplomat Asila Wardak attended the meeting.

Ireland’s mission said the meeting also examined ways to continue supporting the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan. It also thanked the Malala Fund, the United Nations Office for Partnerships, and a BBC journalist for helping organise and manage the event.

The issue of women’s and girls’ rights in Afghanistan has become a constant theme of international meetings in recent years, drawing greater attention from human rights organisations after increasing restrictions on women’s education, work and public presence in Afghanistan.