Mr. President,

The Kingdom of the Netherlands aligns itself with the EU statement.

We thank the Special Rapporteur and the Working Group for their alarming report on the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan.

The Netherlands is deeply concerned about the pattern of large-scale systematic violations of human rights of Afghan women and girls, which you qualify as gender persecution and an institutionalized framework of gender apartheid. It is key to ensure that these serious human rights violations are thoroughly investigated in order to provide justice for victims and survivors and hold perpetrators accountable.

It once again highlights that Afghan women’s and girls’ rights should remain a top priority of the international community, and that full, equal and meaningful participation of Afghan women from within Afghanistan in decision-making processes should be ensured. The continuing trend of repressive measures against girls and women in Afghanistan is detrimental to the development and future of all of Afghanistan. We continue to urge the Taliban to respect Afghan women’s and girls’ rights as a matter of urgency.  

We ask the panelists: "What measures can States take to ensure that perpetrators and complicit actors can be held accountable?”

I thank you.