Afghanistan Peace Campaign
UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous has welcomed the appointment of Rabab Fatima as the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and the new head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), pledging close cooperation to advance the rights and leadership of Afghan women and girls.
Bahous congratulated Fatima on her appointment in a statement on Saturday, saying UN Women would work with the incoming UNAMA chief “at this critical time” to support the rights, voices and leadership of Afghan women and girls as Afghanistan continues to face severe restrictions on women’s participation in public life.
Fatima, a veteran Bangladeshi diplomat with more than three decades of experience in multilateral diplomacy, was appointed by UN Secretary-General António Guterres in July to succeed Roza Otunbayeva as the UN’s top envoy in Afghanistan. She is expected to lead UNAMA’s political engagement and coordinate the UN’s humanitarian and development efforts in the country.
Before taking up the Afghanistan post, Fatima served as the UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States. She previously represented Bangladesh at the United Nations, where she chaired the Executive Boards of UNICEF and UN Women and became the first woman to lead the UN Peacebuilding Commission.
Her appointment comes at a pivotal moment for Afghanistan as the UN Security Council has extended UNAMA’s mandate through June 2027 and requested a strategic review of the mission’s future role in the country. The review is expected to examine how the UN can strengthen its political engagement, humanitarian coordination and human rights monitoring in Afghanistan.
UN Women has repeatedly warned that Taliban policies have created one of the world’s most severe institutional systems of discrimination against women and girls. Since returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban have barred girls from secondary schools and universities, restricted women’s employment, limited their participation in public life, and prohibited Afghan women from working for the United Nations inside Afghanistan.
The appointment also follows UNAMA’s recent reports documenting continued human rights concerns, including restrictions on women’s freedoms, shrinking civic space and barriers to humanitarian operations. UN officials have consistently argued that meaningful international engagement with Afghanistan depends on measurable progress in protecting the rights of women and girls.
UN Women said it looks forward to working closely with Fatima and UNAMA to ensure Afghan women and girls remain at the center of the UN’s engagement with Afghanistan, describing their participation and leadership as essential for the country’s long-term peace, stability and development.