Monthly Action Points (MAP) for the Security Council: December 2025

Afghanistan

Over four years since the Taliban takeover, women’s rights in Afghanistan have deteriorated significantly as the Taliban intensify their widespread, systematic policies of gender-based discrimination intended to erase women and girls from public life. Taliban restrictions on women (e.g. compulsory burqa requirements), including on women aid workers, have seriously hindered women’s and girls’ access to humanitarian assistance, including sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services; these restrictions have also severely impeded the response to recent earthquakes. Women and girls are also unsafe at home, as the Taliban have dismantled all systems to respond to gender-based violence (GBV) and have compelled men to police the conduct of their female relatives. The Taliban continue to surveil, target and arbitrarily detain women activists, journalists, human rights defenders (WHRDs) and protestors, and women and girls accused of violating the Taliban’s morality laws, including dress codes; they face serious abuses in custody including torture and sexual violence. Women and girls from marginalized ethnic and religious groups; LGBTIQ people; older women; women who are heads of households; and women and girls with disabilities also face intersecting forms of discrimination. The rights to freedom of expression and access to information, including women and girls’ ability to access online education, have also been restricted through recent telecommunications shutdowns and restrictions on internet access.

These widespread, systematic and grave violations of the rights of women, girls and LGBTIQ people may amount to gender persecution, a crime against humanity for which the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants against senior Taliban leaders. Afghan women and international experts also describe the situation as gender apartheid, and have called for codification of gender apartheid as a crime against humanity and as a violation of protections guaranteed by the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Meanwhile, Afghan refugees, including women and girls, increasingly face forced returns and the termination of protection by Member States, despite ongoing persecution and discrimination targeting Afghan women and girls.

The Security Council should:

• Demand that the Taliban immediately reverse all policies and practices that prevent the full enjoyment of all women’s human rights in accordance with Afghanistan’s international obligations, including CEDAW and relevant Security Council resolutions.
• As per Resolutions 2593 (2021), 2679 (2023), 2681 (2023), 2721 (2023) and all resolutions on women, peace and security (WPS), demand the protection of women’s rights and the full, equal, meaningful and safe participation of diverse Afghan women and LGBTIQ people, especially WHRDs, peacebuilders and victims and survivors of gender-based crimes, in all international discussions and outcomes about Afghanistan’s future, including all aspects of the “Doha Process.”
• Support all efforts to seek accountability for all international crimes, including gender-based crimes, such as a case against Afghanistan for violations of CEDAW at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the newly-created independent investigative mechanism. 
• Call on the Taliban to ensure that all UN entities can enter the country and fully discharge their mandates without hindrance, and to immediately reverse the ban on Afghan women working for the UN and INGOs.
• Urge donors to fully fund the humanitarian response and allocate increased flexible, long-term and direct funding to Afghan women-led and LGBTIQ-led civil society and humanitarian organizations. Urge all actors to ensure safe, gender-responsive and non-discriminatory humanitarian delivery, with women’s full and equal participation and leadership.
• Call on the Taliban to immediately stop targeting human rights defenders (HRDs), peacebuilders and journalists, and release all individuals who have been arbitrarily arrested or detained.
• Urge all Member States to recognize Afghan women and girls as a category of people experiencing persecution, refrain from forcibly returning any refugees and asylum seekers to Afghanistan, and create and expand pathways to safe resettlement for Afghans who are experiencing persecution in Afghanistan, including WHRDs.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Despite ongoing regional and international mediation efforts, violence continues in eastern DRC, where 5.3 million people remain internally displaced. Disruption of protection networks and proliferation of weapons during the conflict have greatly compounded the already acute risks of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) for women and girls, including widespread and systematic conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV), with displaced women and girls particularly at risk. Humanitarian access remains limited as providers have been forced to scale back or suspend operations amid targeted attacks, disrupted supply routes, increased bureaucratic and administrative impediments, and severe funding cuts. Services for survivors, including SRH care, are similarly restricted, including due to a shortage of post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) kits. Ongoing conflict, displacement and suspension of basic services have multiplied the risk of infectious diseases such as cholera and further exacerbated food insecurity, forcing women to adopt high-risk coping mechanisms such as transactional sex. HRDs, journalists, activists and members of civil society, including women and LGBTIQ people, face serious protection risks as a result of their essential work and on the basis of their identities, particularly in AFC/M23-controlled areas; increasing media censorship also threatens civic space.

The Security Council should:

• Renew in full the mandate of MONUSCO as contained in Resolution 2765 (2024). Safeguard and maintain all provisions related to WPS including: gender considerations as a crosscutting issue throughout the mandate; protection of civilians from, and accountability for, violations including all forms of SGBV; supporting the DRC government in advancing women’s full, equal, meaningful and safe political participation; capacity building for local communities, including women’s groups and networks, in civilian protection; and knowledge transfer and capacity building on CRSV prevention and WPS in planning for MONUSCO’s eventual withdrawal. Continue to request gender analysis in all reports of the Secretary-General to the Council.
• Demand all parties immediately cease hostilities and ensure protection of civilians, including by issuing clear orders to refrain from violence against civilians, including SGBV, and to ensure accountability for such actions. Call on the DRC and Rwanda to cease support to their respective allied militias, and call on the Rwandan Defense Forces and its AFC/M23 proxies to immediately withdraw from the DRC without preconditions.
• Demand that all actors allow and facilitate full, safe, unhindered and immediate humanitarian access to all affected populations and restore basic services in line with Resolution 2773 (2025).
• Call for the full, equal, meaningful and safe participation of diverse women in all efforts to build peace. Any peace process or ceasefire negotiation should center human rights and accountability for all abuses against civilians, including SGBV.
• Support efforts to investigate and hold accountable all parties responsible for atrocity crimes, including gender-based crimes, such as the ongoing ICC investigation and the OHCHR fact-finding mission.
• Condemn threats and attacks against HRDs, journalists and civil society. Call for the protection and promotion of civic space and condemn the spread of mis- and disinformation.
• Urge donors to provide increased, sustainable, direct and flexible funding to local women-led, women’s rights and LGBTIQ organizations and organizations providing SRH care and interventions against GBV; and support their meaningful participation and leadership in humanitarian coordination and response.

Myanmar

Almost five years since the military coup, the crisis in Myanmar continues to escalate, with an estimated 3.6 million people internally displaced nationwide. Over a third of the population requires humanitarian assistance, including as a result of displacement and escalating protection concerns, food insecurity and malnutrition and inadequate access to health care, including SRH services and support for SGBV survivors. However, humanitarian aid funding shortages persist, and humanitarian access is hindered by fluid conflict lines, violence, administrative restrictions and denial of access by conflict parties and local authorities. The March 2025 earthquake and severe seasonal flooding have further compounded humanitarian needs. 

Women, girls and LGBTIQ individuals, particularly those from ethnic and religious minorities, face heightened risk of SGBV and other gender-related harms, perpetrated largely by the junta and its allies but also by resistance forces. Women and LGBTIQ protestors, activists, journalists, politicians and human rights defenders face violence and reprisals as a result of their essential work, including arbitrary arrest and detention; torture, rape and sexual violence, including in detention; and extrajudicial killing. The junta’s forced recruitment, including through its mandatory conscription law, has had devastating effects at the community level, prompting many women to take extreme measures to avoid conscription; however, doing so often increases GBV risks including trafficking, early marriage and sexual exploitation. The junta continues to verify Rohingya for return despite ongoing conflict and lack of military control in most of Rakhine State causing widespread civilian suffering and presenting a renewed risk of genocide and other atrocities. 

Myanmar civil society, and UN, regional and international experts, emphasize that given these conditions, as well as increased criminalization of freedom of expression, the elections the junta has planned for December 2025 will not be free, fair or inclusive. They have also exacerbated violence in Myanmar as the junta seeks to retake territory ahead of the polls. 

The Security Council should:

• Demand full adherence to international human rights and humanitarian law and the full implementation of Resolution 2669 (2022), including an immediate end to all forms of violence; respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law; and the immediate release of all arbitrarily detained prisoners.
• Impose an embargo and targeted sanctions to stop the sale and transfer of arms, munitions, surveillance and dual use technology, other military equipment and aviation fuel that facilitate attacks on civilians and violations of international law.
• Hold an open, emergency meeting to discuss the situation in Myanmar, including the impact of the junta’s planned elections on violence and instability in the region; and add the situation in Myanmar to the Council’s regular reporting cycle.
• Condemn military efforts to legitimize control through elections and call on Member States to refrain from providing any support or technical assistance to the current election process.
• Support and expand efforts to seek accountability for all international crimes, including gender-based crimes, committed or originating in Myanmar, such as the case against Myanmar at the ICJ, the ICC investigation, universal jurisdiction proceedings or the creation of an ad hoc tribunal. Demand Myanmar’s compliance with the binding provisional measures ordered by the ICJ. 
• Demand the immediate reversal of all measures that impede safe and sustained humanitarian access to all parts of Myanmar, and demand all actors facilitate access for and ensure the safety of medical and humanitarian personnel. Call on Member States to fully fund the humanitarian response, flash addendum and refugee response, and provide direct, flexible, long-term, and consistent funding to local women-led and LGBTIQ-led organizations already working in target areas.
• Prioritize engagement with diverse civil society, including women, youth, LGBTIQ people and all ethnic minorities, including the Rohingya, and explicitly communicate this as a priority to all relevant stakeholders.
• Call for safe pathways to asylum and legal work status in neighboring countries and beyond, particularly for women, LGBTIQ and ethnic and religious minorities; call for adherence to the principle of non-refoulement under customary international law; and reiterate that any return of refugees to Myanmar must meet international standards and be safe, informed, dignified, voluntary and durable. Call on Member States to commit to increasing resettlement opportunities or alternative visas.
• Demand the full, equal, meaningful and safe participation of diverse women in all political, peace and transitional justice processes.