The United Nations in Afghanistan has called on the Islamic Emirate to take immediate action to end violence against women and girls and to reverse the systematic erosion of women’s rights that fosters such violence.

According to a statement issued by the UN, Afghanistan continues to have high rates of violence against women, which is exacerbated by the ongoing discrimination against women across all areas of life. 

"We are at a critical juncture for the women and girls of Afghanistan. We need urgent action for justice to end violence against women and girls in Afghanistan,” said Roza Otunbayeva, Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Afghanistan.

The UN’s statement marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and the start of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence campaign. 

This global campaign runs from November 25 - International Day for Ending Violence Against Women - to December 10, Human Rights Day. 

“The fact that Afghan women and girls have less rights today than generations ago is a devastating reminder of the urgency of their struggle and the need for the international community to double down our efforts to stand with them, investing in their resilience, leadership and empowerment," said Alison Davidian, the Special Representative for UN Women in Afghanistan.

The Islamic Emirate has however stated on numerous occasions that women’s rights in Afghanistan are ensured in accordance with Sharia. 

Russia’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said in a meeting with Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Kabul that a high-level Russian delegation will visit Kabul in the near future to discuss the expansion of bilateral cooperation with the Islamic Emirate.

Kabulov and Muttaqi discussed bilateral relations between Afghanistan and Russia, especially economic cooperation, investment and transit, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Muttaqi described the relations between the Islamic Emirate and Russia as important, stressing that the ties should be expanded to include economic and trade cooperation.

He said visits to Kabul by high-level officials was important, adding that during the past year, many officials of the Islamic Emirate have been invited to Russia to attend international meetings.

Meanwhile, the Russian diplomat said that his country wants to expand its relations with Afghanistan in the economic and trade sectors.

This comes on the heels of Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko’s comments that the completion of legal procedures to remove the Islamic Emirate from Moscow’s terrorist list will provide positive impetus to Russian-Afghan relations.

In an interview with Russia’s TASS news agency, published early Sunday, Rudenko said “removing the terrorist organization’s status from the Taliban Movement (Islamic Emirate) will attribute a positive impetus to Russian-Afghan interaction in various spheres, in the economy in the first instance."

"As regards the issue of the official recognition of current Afghan authorities, it is early to talk about it thus far. Let’s act gradually, step by step, but we do not intend to artificially impede the processes," Rudenko noted.

Russia has been slowly building ties with the Islamic Emirate since it regained power in Afghanistan in August 2021 but the IEA is still officially outlawed in Russia.

In response to Russia’s comments last month, the IEA’s acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said the Islamic Emirate “appreciates the positive remarks by the high-ranking officials of the Russian Federation in this regard and hope to see more effective steps soon."

Ali Reza Begdeli, Iran's former deputy foreign minister for consular affairs, has been appointed as the country's new ambassador to Kabul, Mehr news agency reported on Sunday.

The outlet added that the post of the Iranian presidential special representative in Afghanistan has been removed and, as before, the special representative for Afghanistan will act directly under the supervision of the foreign minister.

It is worth mentioning that Hassan Kazemi Qomi previously served as Iran's ambassador and presidential special representative in Afghanistan.