This webinar will launch the Feinstein International Center’s new report, a first-of-its-kind analysis measuring Taliban governance against CEDAW’s Articles.

OBJECTIVES

• Present the core findings and analytical framework of the report
• Facilitate expert reflection on implications for international law, policy, and accountability mechanisms
• Situate findings within ongoing international efforts addressing discrimination against women and girls in Afghanistan
• Provide a forum for informed, cross-disciplinary discussion among policymakers, legal experts, women’s rights practitioners, and Afghanistan scholars

PANELISTS

Prof. Dyan Mazurana (report co-author)
Research Professor, Fletcher School of Global Affairs and Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University

Dr. Sima Samar (report co-author)
Distinguished Visiting Scholar, Fletcher School of Global Affairs, Tufts University
Former Chair, Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission
Former UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Sudan

Prof. Rangita de Silva de Alwis
Member, UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

Richard Bennett
UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan

Farid Hamidi
Former Attorney General of Afghanistan

WHAT TO EXPECT

Professor Mazurana will open with a concise overview of the report’s scope, methodology, and core findings, outlining the analytical framework assessing Taliban laws and practices against Afghanistan’s CEDAW obligations (Articles 1–16) and summarizing patterns of compliance and non-compliance from August 2021 to October 2025.

Each panelist will then reflect on specialized dimensions:

• Dr. Samar will discuss the importance of CEDAW ratification and implementation as foundations for sustainable development and durable peace, examining how implementation advanced gender equality prior to August 2021.
• Professor de Silva de Alwis will address recent submissions to the CEDAW Committee and the role of treaty-body review processes in the current context.
• Mr. Bennett will examine deterioration of human rights in Afghanistan since August 2021, with particular focus on restrictions affecting education, healthcare, and reproductive rights.
• Mr. Hamidi will reflect on Afghanistan’s domestic legal frameworks prior to August 2021 and implications of their dismantling.

The webinar concludes with audience Q&A.