Koofi Welcomes UN Call to Include Gender Apartheid in Crimes Against Humanity Treaty

Fawzia Koofi, a former member of Afghanistan’s Parliament, has welcomed a call by UN human rights experts to include gender apartheid in the proposed treaty on crimes against humanity and urged UN Member States to ensure Afghan women play a central role in the process.

In a statement, Koofi called on the UN Sixth Committee to guarantee that women, particularly survivors of human rights violations, are heard and meaningfully included at every stage of negotiations on the convention.

The reaction follows a press release issued on 19 January 2026 by independent UN human rights experts, who stressed that states must recognise gender apartheid in Afghanistan and ensure the meaningful participation of Afghan women, women leaders, and civil society actors in drafting the treaty.

The experts warned that a crimes against humanity treaty cannot be effective if it is negotiated without the voices of those most affected. They described Afghanistan as one of the most urgent examples of systematic discrimination against women, noting the severe restrictions imposed since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.

The statement also urged states to refrain from normalising Taliban policies that exclude women and girls from education, work, and public life, and called for gender apartheid to be explicitly recognised as a crime under international law.