Joint statement from female foreign ministers attending the Munich Security Conference 2023

February 18, 2023 – Ottawa, Ontario – Global Affairs Canada

Today, the foreign ministers of Albania, Andorra, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Iceland, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Mongolia and Slovenia issued the following statement:

“Together, we, female Foreign Ministers at the Munich Security Conference 2023, strongly condemn the Taliban’s push to exclude women from all public life. Women are kept from strolling in parks, are not seen on TV screens anymore, are deprived from their right to attend schools and universities, and are now also kept from working in humanitarian assistance.

“By excluding half of Afghanistan’s population from society, the Taliban is committing the gravest violations of human rights. And the Taliban is jeopardizing the future of the whole country. We are united in our call to lift these restrictions on women, particularly when it comes to their essential role in the delivery of humanitarian assistance. This will restore the basis to deliver the help that the women, children and men of Afghanistan so urgently need.

“We also stand by the side of the brave women and men of Iran in their daily fight for their rights and their freedom. Their struggle shows that only where women are safe, everybody is safe. Not only in Iran, not only in Afghanistan, but all over the world.”