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

Afghanistan

Over four years since the Taliban takeover, women’s rights in Afghanistan have deteriorated significantly as the Taliban intensify their widespread and systematic policies of gender-based discrimination intended to erase women and girls from public life. Women’s and girls’ access to humanitarian assistance, including sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services, is seriously hindered by Taliban restrictions on women, including women aid workers, as well as drastic cuts to humanitarian funding. 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 target and arbitrarily detain women activists, journalists, human rights defenders (WHRDs) and protestors, as well as 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 minority ethnic and religious groups; lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer (LBTQ) women; older women; women who are heads of households; and women and girls with disabilities also face intersecting forms of discrimination.

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 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 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 creation of a UN accountability mechanism to document and preserve evidence of international crimes committed in Afghanistan.
• Call on the Taliban to ensure that all UN entities can fully discharge their mandates without hindrance.
• 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 who have been arbitrarily arrested and detained.
• Urge all Member States to refrain from forcibly returning refugees and asylum seekers to Afghanistan and to create and expand pathways to safe resettlement for Afghans who are experiencing persecution in Afghanistan, including WHRDs.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Despite the June 2025 peace agreement between the DRC and Rwanda, violence continues in eastern DRC, where 7.8 million people remain internally displaced. In particular, 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 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 exacerbated food insecurity and multiplied the risk of infectious diseases such as cholera. 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; civic space is also threatened by increasing media censorship.

The Security Council should:

• 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 both 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 and women’s rights organizations, LGBTIQ organizations and organizations providing SRH care and interventions against SGBV, including domestic violence and CRSV response; and support their meaningful participation and leadership in humanitarian coordination and response.
• Call on MONUSCO and the DRC authorities to consult regularly and meaningfully with diverse women’s civil society organizations in order to protect civilians and safeguard women’s human rights.

Haiti

Violations of women’s and girls’ rights in Haiti continue with impunity. Criminal violence enabled by illegal arms trafficking has increased significantly, with criminal groups now controlling at least 90% of the capital, disrupting critical infrastructure and hindering aid delivery. Nearly 1.3 million people are internally displaced, 55% of whom are women and girls; and more than half the population now faces acute food insecurity. The situation is further compounded by increasing deportations of Haitians from the Dominican Republic, including pregnant and postpartum women. The humanitarian response, especially by local women-led and women’s rights organizations, is hindered by a severe lack of funding, and further threatened by the recent imposition of counter-terror measures.

Violence perpetrated against Haitians is highly gendered: while men comprise the majority of individuals targeted for killing, diverse women and girls comprise the majority of individuals targeted for sexual violence by criminal groups as a means to control and subjugate the population, with collective rape now accounting for 85% of documented cases. The situation is exacerbated by a weakened justice system, entrenched corruption and an understaffed, under-resourced police force and Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission, leaving many victims without recourse. Many survivors, including LGBTIQ people and those targeted in displacement sites, do not report sexual violence for fear of reprisal. Children now comprise up to 50% of criminal group members, and girls recruited by criminal groups are forced into traditional gender roles and face heightened risk of sexual violence. Access to healthcare is scarce, with only 13% of facilities fully operational; as a result, women and girls, including survivors of sexual violence, are largely unable to access SRH care or SGBV response services. Haiti’s total ban on abortion further violates the human rights of women and girls and is a leading cause of maternal mortality.

Haitian women also remain sidelined in the political transition. Only one member of the Transitional Presidential Council (TPC) is a woman, who does not have voting power, and just four of 18 members of the Cabinet of Ministers are women.

The Security Council should:

• Renew the mandate of the MSS Mission as authorized by Resolution 2699 (2023), and urgently ensure personnel, funding and equipment necessary for fulfilling its mandate. Take all measures to prevent the unlawful use of force, harm to local populations due to negligence and other abuses by establishing clear, mandatory and enforceable parameters that detail the operational and oversight measures for protection of civilians, including against sexual exploitation and abuse. Ensure accessible and effective remedies for victims and promote full adherence to the UN human rights due diligence policy.
• Demand full compliance with the UN arms embargo on Haiti, and call on all Member States to take steps to stop the flow of arms in order to prevent further harm to Haitian women and girls. Request the availability of gender and SGBV expertise in the Panel of Experts supporting the sanctions committee, and the use of gender analysis in their reports and investigations.
• Urgently consider options, including those proposed by the Secretary-General, to provide logistical and operational support to the MSS Mission and restore security in Haiti. Any support office or other entity established by the Security Council should incorporate gender equality, human rights and WPS issues as cross-cutting themes throughout its mandate.
• Condemn the surge in reported cases of rape and sexual violence and urge the provision of comprehensive, gender-sensitive and age-appropriate support services for survivors. Call on all actors, including the Government of Haiti and international partners, to prioritize strengthening prevention, protection and accountability mechanisms to address and deter sexual violence, such as the specialized judicial units tasked with investigating and prosecuting mass crimes including sexual violence.
• Demand respect for women’s human rights, and condemn all violations thereof, including attacks on WHRDs, women’s civil society and women aid workers, who must be able to operate freely and without fear of threat or reprisal.
• Demand that all peace, security and political processes are Haitian-led and Haitian-owned, and ensure the full, equal, meaningful and safe participation and leadership of diverse women throughout, including in the TPC. Call on the TPC to implement the 30% minimum quota for women’s representation at all levels, in accordance with Haiti’s Constitution.
• Urge donors to fully fund the humanitarian response and allocate increased flexible and direct funding to grassroots women-led and women’s rights organizations. Call for increased, immediate, safe, gender-responsive and non-discriminatory delivery of humanitarian aid to Haitians in need, including ensuring that the implementation measures acknowledge and address the specific needs of LBTQ women.
• Urge all Member States to maintain temporary protection or refugee status for Haitians, and to refrain from forcibly returning Haitian migrants, in particular pregnant and postpartum women and unaccompanied children, to Haiti in accordance with international law.