Monthly Action Points (MAP) for the Security Council: September 2026

Afghanistan

Five years since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, they continue to intensify their widespread, systematic policies of gender-based discrimination intended to erase women and girls from public life, including through the January 2026 “criminal code” and the May 2026 Decree No. 18 which, inter alia, loosened restrictions on child marriage. Taliban restrictions on women, including on women aid workers, combined with severe funding shortages, have seriously hindered women’s and girls’ access to humanitarian assistance and healthcare, including sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information and services. Afghanistan has one of the world’s highest maternal mortality rates, yet access to healthcare has become even more challenging due to the closure of hundreds of health clinics. Bans on contraception also seriously threaten women’s health. Women and girls are unsafe at home, as the Taliban have dismantled systems to respond to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), legitimized domestic violence, criminalized women leaving home without their husbands’ permission and restricted women’s ability to obtain a divorce. In the face of these realities, Afghan women continue to mobilise inside the country and in exile, yet 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, most recently in Herat; they frequently face torture and sexual violence in detention. Women, girls and LGBTIQ people also face intersecting forms of discrimination based on ethnic and/or religious identity, age, marital status, displacement and disability, among other factors. Afghan refugees, including WHRDs and women journalists, continue to face forced returns despite ongoing persecution and discrimination targeting Afghan women and girls, or have been forced to return to Afghanistan due to the ongoing conflict in Iran. 

These grave violations of the rights of women, girls and LGBTIQ people 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 call for codification of gender apartheid as a crime against humanity; they also call for recognizing violations of women and girls’ human rights as a breach of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). 

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. 
• 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 fora concerning Afghanistan’s future, including all aspects of the “Doha Process.”
• Support and work to accelerate 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 and the independent investigative mechanism created by the Human Rights Council. 
• 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 in Afghanistan and the response plan for Afghan refugees in Iran, and allocate increased flexible, long-term and direct funding to Afghan women-led and LGBTIQ-led 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 arbitrarily detained individuals.
• Urge all Member States to recognize gender-based persecution against Afghan women and girls as categorical grounds for asylum; 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 and women and girls.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Despite ongoing mediation efforts, violence continues in eastern DRC, where over 5.3 million people remain internally displaced. The ongoing conflict has greatly compounded the already acute risks of SGBV for women and girls, including widespread and systematic conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) perpetrated by both state and non-state armed groups, with displaced women and girls particularly at risk. Women are disproportionately exposed to Ebola due to their roles as primary caretakers and healthcare workers, and the outbreak severely threatens SRH outcomes and access to services; women and girls also face increased risk of SGBV in quarantined communities. Ongoing conflict and displacement, destruction of infrastructure, looting of health facilities and lack of basic services such as sanitation facilities also severely compromise the continuity of care, particularly SRH care, and undermine Ebola detection and response. 

Humanitarian access remains limited as providers have been forced to scale back or suspend operations amid ongoing fighting, targeted attacks, disrupted supply routes, bureaucratic and administrative impediments and severe funding cuts. Services for survivors, including SRH care, are similarly restricted. The conflict has also led to a collapse of protection services and further exacerbated food insecurity, forcing some women and girls to adopt high-risk coping mechanisms such as transactional sex. At the same time, civic space continues to shrink across the DRC, while the government-imposed “state of siege” continues in North Kivu and Ituri. HRDs, journalists, activists and members of civil society, including women, people from marginalized communities, 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.

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 the DRC and Rwanda to cease support to their respective allied armed groups, 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.
• Call on MONUSCO to accelerate and strengthen implementation of monitoring, analysis and reporting arrangements on CRSV, and to ensure adequate resources and support for Women Protection Advisers to carry out their mandate effectively.
• 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 commission of inquiry. Call on all parties to facilitate unfettered access for international monitors and investigators.
• 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 support their meaningful participation and leadership in humanitarian coordination and response, including Ebola prevention and response.
  

Haiti

Women and girls in Haiti are disproportionately impacted by the ongoing crisis, including widespread criminal violence enabled by arms trafficking. Drone strikes by security forces and private contractors, and disproportionate use of lethal force by police, also increasingly put Haitians at serious risk. Over 1.47 million people are internally displaced, over half of whom are women and girls. Diverse women and girls comprise the majority of those targeted for SGBV by criminal groups, with displaced women and girls at particular risk and rape by multiple perpetrators the most commonly documented form of sexual violence. Women and girls are also frequently coerced into exploitative relationships with criminal group members. A weakened justice system, entrenched corruption and an under-resourced police force leave many victims and survivors without recourse. Many survivors, including LGBTIQ people, do not report sexual violence for fear of reprisal and stigmatization; in addition, displacement sites frequently lack reporting mechanisms. Ongoing violence limits access to SRH care, including post-rape care. Despite the ongoing and multifaceted crisis, many Haitians have been forcibly returned to Haiti, including over 141,000 as of June 2026.

Haitian women remain sidelined in the political transition. Women currently occupy only three of 18 cabinet positions, below the 30% minimum quota established by Haiti’s constitution. While elections are scheduled for December 2026, concerns persist regarding security, logistics including voter registration, and women’s participation.

The Security Council should:

• In renewing the mandate of the Gang Suppression Force (GSF), call on the GSF to: 
  • Take all measures to prevent the unlawful use of force and harm to local populations by establishing clear, mandatory and enforceable parameters for protection, including by integrating gender, women and child protection advisers into planning and operations. Ensure GSF personnel receive training to support and respond to all survivors of SGBV and that female personnel are part of all operations, and promote full adherence to the UN Human Rights Due Diligence Policy.
  • Expand the presence of human rights monitors and provide them with adequate resources to effectively cover all areas where troops are deployed. Further, ensure that complaints mechanisms are effective and connected to existing local protection and service networks. Call for full and transparent screening of all GSF personnel.
• 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 violence against 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.
• Urge the provision of comprehensive, gender-sensitive and age-appropriate support services for survivors of SGBV. Call on all actors, including the Government of Haiti and international partners, to prioritize ensuring effective and accessible prevention, protection and accountability mechanisms to address and deter SGBV, such as the specialized judicial units tasked with investigating and prosecuting mass crimes.
• Demand respect for women’s human rights and gender equality, and condemn all violations thereof, including attacks on WHRDs, LGBTIQ human rights defenders, other civil society groups and aid workers, who must be able to operate freely and without fear of reprisal, violence, threats or harassment.
• Demand that all peace, security, transitional and political processes are Haitian-led and Haitian-owned, and ensure the full, equal, meaningful and safe participation and leadership of diverse women throughout. Call on the Prime Minister to take measures to realize the constitutionally-mandated 30% minimum quota for women’s representation, including through enforcement of the quota for electoral lists.
• Urge donors to fully fund the humanitarian response and allocate increased flexible, long-term and direct funding to grassroots women-led, women’s rights and LGBTIQ organizations.
• 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.