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

European Parliament resolution of 9 October 2025 on the situation in Afghanistan: supporting women and communities affected by the recent earthquakes (2025/2872(RSP))

The European Parliament,

–having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 10 December 1948 and to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 16 December 1966,

–having regard to the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women of 18 December 1979 and to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child of 20 November 1989, both ratified by Afghanistan,

–having regard to the UN General Assembly resolution of 7 July 2025 on the situation in Afghanistan,

–having regard to the report of the UN Secretary-General of 11 June 2025 to the UN Security Council, entitled ‘The situation in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security’,

–having regard to the UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees of 28 July 1951, and to the 1967 Protocol thereto,

–having regard to the principle of non-refoulement under international law,

–having regard to the conclusions of the third meeting of UN Special Envoys on Afghanistan, held in Doha, Qatar on 30 June and 1 July 2024,

–having regard to its previous resolutions on the situation in Afghanistan, in particular its resolution of 19 September 2024 on the deteriorating situation of women in Afghanistan due to the recent adoption of the law on the ‘Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice’,

–having regard to the Council conclusions of 14 November 2022 on women, peace and security, and to the Council conclusions of 15 September 2021 on Afghanistan, which outlined five benchmarks for EU engagement with the Taliban-led de facto authorities,

–having regard to the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) of 4 October 2024, which found that systemic discrimination such as that faced by Afghan women under the Taliban’s rule amounts to persecution under EU asylum law,

–having regard to the Cooperation Agreement on Partnership and Development between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, of the other part, signed on 18 February 2017,

–having regard to the EU thematic guidelines on human rights defenders, on the promotion and protection of the rights of the child, and on violence against women and girls and combating all forms of discrimination against them,

–having regard to the Commission communication of 10 March 2021 on the EU's humanitarian action: new challenges, same principles (COM(2021)0110), which prioritises protection, disaster preparedness and the needs of women and vulnerable groups,

–having regard to the World Food Programme’s 2024 Annual Country Report on Afghanistan, published on 27 March 2025,

–having regard to the Human Development Index for 2022,

–having regard to the joint statement by the Council and the representatives of the governments of the Member States meeting within the Council, the European Parliament and the Commission of 30 June 2017 entitled ‘The New European Consensus on Development – “Our World, Our Dignity, Our Future”’,

–having regard to the International Crisis Group’s analysis entitled ‘Afghanistan: The Taliban Restrict Women’s Rights, Worsening the Humanitarian Crisis’, published on 31 January 2023,

–having regard to UNICEF’s humanitarian funding appeal for 2025, launched on 5 December 2024,

–having regard to the emergency funding appeal for Afghanistan launched by the UN Refugee Agency in September 2025,

–having regard to UNICEF’s Afghanistan earthquake response appeal for 2025, launched on 9 September 2025,

–having regard to the International Organization for Migration’s Afghanistan Crisis Response Plan 2025, published on 16 December 2024,

–having regard to the World Health Organization’s Health Emergency Appeal 2025, published on 16 January 2025,

–having regard to the arrest warrants issued on 8 July 2025 by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Taliban Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and Taliban Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani,

–having regard to the judgment of the CJEU of 16 January 2024 in Case C-621/21 on the granting of international protection to women facing gender-based violence,

–having regard to Rule 136(2) and (4) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.whereas on 31 August 2025, a deadly 6.0 magnitude earthquake hit the province of Kunar in eastern Afghanistan, causing over 2 200 deaths, with thousands more injured, in both Kunar and the neighbouring province, Nangarhar; whereas more than 6 700 homes were destroyed and entire villages reduced to rubble, leaving at least 11 000 people living in tents, at risk of hypothermia, as winter approaches; whereas global humanitarian aid cuts have had a severe impact on the crisis response;

B.whereas the Taliban’s rule has severely isolated Afghanistan internationally, resulting in delays in delivering international relief; whereas women have been disproportionately affected by the earthquake owing to the Taliban’s strict social code restricting male volunteers from touching women, thus hampering rescue efforts and medical treatment; whereas since 5 September 2025, the Taliban have prevented Afghan women staff and contractors from entering UN compounds in Kabul, thereby severely restricting the delivery of humanitarian aid to women and girls; whereas the healthcare consequences of the gender apartheid imposed on Afghanistan by the Taliban regime have had a negative impact on the aid response to women and girl victims; whereas the lack of female doctors, and strict travel restrictions for women and girls, have contributed to the high death toll from the earthquakes; whereas female humanitarian workers have played a critical role in reaching affected villages, providing healthcare and psychosocial support and distributing aid;

C.whereas since returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban have imposed a radical interpretation and enforcement of Sharia law, resulting in the almost complete erasure of women and girls from public life in Afghanistan; whereas this has been enforced through sweeping restrictions on women and girls, including bans on attending secondary and higher education, prohibitions on engaging in most forms of employment, denial of access to public spaces and sports, the imposition of strict dress codes, the dismantling of support systems for victims of violence and requirements that women travel only when accompanied by a male guardian; whereas further decrees, such as the December 2024 prohibition on women pursuing a medical education or sitting final medical examinations, have drastically reduced the number of female medical professionals in Afghanistan;

D.whereas in 2024, the CJEU issued three judgments on gender-based violence and persecution, indicating that Member States are entitled to take into consideration gender and nationality alone when carrying out an individual assessment of an application for asylum by a woman of Afghan nationality;

E.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, given the Taliban’s ban on their education beyond sixth grade;

F.whereas according to the World Health Organization, 422 healthcare facilities in Afghanistan have shut down due to funding shortages, affecting 3,08 million people; whereas Afghanistan is experiencing multiple health emergencies, exacerbating what was already one of the highest maternal mortality ratios globally;

G.whereas the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan is dire, with nearly 24 million people dependent on humanitarian assistance and almost 15 million suffering from acute food insecurity; whereas between January and October 2024, over 1,1 million Afghans, many of them forcibly returned, came back to Afghanistan, putting pressure on communities already under strain; whereas there are over 3,2 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) within Afghanistan and 5,3 million Afghan refugees and asylum seekers in neighbouring countries;

H.whereas US foreign aid funding cuts have severely hit Afghanistan’s healthcare system and food assistance programmes; whereas the EU and its Member States remain among the largest humanitarian donors to Afghanistan, approving EUR 1 million in emergency funding, in addition to the EUR 161 million in humanitarian aid already allocated in 2025 and destined for organisations across Afghanistan; whereas EU humanitarian aid in Afghanistan is solely channelled through humanitarian partners;

I.whereas Afghanistan continues to face a high level of terrorist activity from extremist Islamist groups, including the Taliban, al-Qaeda and ISIS-Khorasan, which deliberately target civilians, minorities and humanitarian workers; whereas the EU rightfully does not have relations with Afghanistan’s de facto authorities;

1.Expresses deep concern about the humanitarian situation in Kunar, Nangarhar and neighbouring provinces as a result of the earthquakes, extends condolences to the families of the victims and urges international actors to help deliver support to survivors as soon as possible; insists that emergency responses for underserved populations must be scaled up, that assistance must be provided to returning migrants at border points, and that maternal and child healthcare services, in particular, must be enhanced; calls on the de facto authorities of Afghanistan to lift all restrictions that limit access to or distribution of humanitarian aid; denounces as a crime against humanity the deliberate abandonment to which the Afghan regime has condemned the women and girl victims of this tragedy;

2.Strongly condemns measures of repression, such as the recent cut off of the internet imposed by the Taliban across the country; reiterates that these practices further isolate the people of Afghanistan, specifically women pursuing online learning opportunities, and negatively impacts humanitarian aid operations and the country’s already fragile economy; calls on the de facto authorities to refrain from such practices in the future;

3.Urges the international community to coordinate efforts in increasing and delivering humanitarian relief, rebuilding infrastructure, and providing medical and psychological support for survivors, including trauma care; calls for greater investment in community-based resilience, including earthquake-resistant housing, local healthcare systems, food security and livelihoods for women; calls on the Commission to urgently increase basic needs and livelihood support for Afghanistan, and increase the national envelope; calls on the Commission to continue working through the humanitarian-development-peace nexus; recalls that the worsening humanitarian situation and overall lack of prospects for a better future can result in increasing destabilisation and radicalisation, as well as population displacement within Afghanistan and beyond its borders; welcomes the Commission’s intention, as expressed in its Global Europe proposal, to increase the EU’s support for resilience actions and integrated responses to fragility, and urges the Commission and the Member States to increase flexible, multi-annual funding in this regard; encourages the EU to increase its engagement with regional partners and trusted non-governmental organisations to ensure that aid delivery bypasses Taliban interference wherever possible;

4.Notes with grave concern that the quake-hit region is experiencing a massive influx of Afghan families returning to shattered homes and farmland, following their forced expulsion from Iran and Pakistan; condemns the human rights violations that take place during these deportations; expresses great concern about the consequent added strain on the humanitarian aid infrastructure in these provinces; calls on Iran and Pakistan to immediately halt deportations to Afghanistan; highlights, in this regard, the importance of adhering to the principle of non-refoulement, especially given the ongoing conflict and instability in Afghanistan and the persecution of ethnic groups, women and political opponents;

5.Notes with concern the situation of Afghan human rights defenders, journalists and other public figures who have supported democratic development in Afghanistan over the past decade and who have been granted documentation allowing them temporary status in Pakistan; calls for the EU and its Member States to assist, where relevant and possible, the application process for these individuals;

6.Strongly condemns the Taliban’s numerous gender-based restrictions and discriminatory policies that prevent Afghan women from accessing education, medical training, healthcare and humanitarian work, resulting in the establishment of a gender apartheid; calls for the EU to support the recognition of gender apartheid as a crime against humanity; calls on the de facto authorities of Afghanistan to lift all restrictions on women and calls for the immediate restoration of women’s and girls’ full, equal, meaningful participation in public life; reiterates its calls for the EU and the Member States to take all necessary measures to allow Afghan women to meaningfully participate in international forums and negotiations; specifically urges the de facto authorities to reopen medical education centres to women, given the country’s drastic shortage of female medical staff;

7.Calls on the de facto authorities to immediately lift restrictions on female humanitarian workers and students, to allow women to participate fully in disaster response efforts and to permit women’s rights organisations to continue their work in Afghanistan; calls specifically on the authorities to immediately lift all restrictions on women working for civil society organisations, both at local and international level, so that they can continue their work;

8.Condemns the persistence of violence against women in Afghanistan, including rape and sexual violence, forced (child) marriage, domestic violence and cases of female genital mutilation;

9.Insists that the Taliban must prevent al-Qaeda, Daesh, ISIS-Khorasan and other terrorist groups and individuals from using Afghan soil to threaten or violate the security of any other country by 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; urges all relevant partners to step up their efforts to dismantle all terrorist financing networks;

10.Calls on 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, and refrain from resuming diplomatic relations with the Taliban in line with the five benchmarks set out in the September 2021 Council conclusions on Afghanistan;

11.Calls on the international community to hold the Taliban accountable, including through the establishment of a UN independent investigative mechanism for Afghanistan, and to execute the July 2025 ICC arrest warrants for Taliban Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and Taliban Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani, which were issued on the grounds of crimes against humanity related to the persecution of women and girls; expresses its support for the ongoing investigations into gender-based persecution and other human rights violations;

12.Welcomes the establishment of an independent investigative mechanism for Afghanistan to answer the call of Afghan victims as a significant milestone in the pursuit of truth, justice and accountability for the people of Afghanistan, who are suffering from international crimes and violations of international law committed in the country; welcomes also the renewal of the UN Special Rapporteur’s mandate and echoes his call for accountability;

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