Human Rights Research League

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Research. Education. Advocacy. Development. (R.E.A.D.)

Afghanistan

 

More than four years after the Taliban's seizure of power in Afghanistan, the humanitarian and human rights situation in the country remains dire. Hunger is widespread, with more than a third of the population facing acute food insecurity, a situation also exacerbated by recent mass deportations conducted by Iran and Pakistan. 

 

The exclusion of women from work and public life, and of girls from education beyond 6th grade, further contributes to this precarious situation and will have a lasting, negative effect not only on the mental health of those deprived of opportunities for personal growth, but on the development of the country.

 

Since the Taliban's return to power, Human Rights Research League has documented revenge killings and other serious human rights violations in Afghanistan and regularly intervenes at the UN Human Rights Council on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, in debates, conferences, and side events, organizes academic discussions and seminars, and engages in advocacy efforts to the benefit of Afghanistan's suffering population. 

 

 

 

 

On 16 October 2025, Human Rights Research League (HRRL) and Oslo New University College (ONUC) co-organized a seminar at ONUC on 'Mental Health in Failing States'. The seminar focused on what impact living in a long-term situation of war, conflict, and insecurity has on the mental health of a population. The seminar, based in part on Human Rights Research League's recent research report conducted in partnership with the University of Montreal, took the situation in Lebanon from the civil war in the 1970s as a point of departure and discussed the relevance of the findings to similar situations of long-term conflict, neglect and/or state failure, including Afghanistan, the Congo (DRC), Gaza, Iran, Sudan, Syria, and Ukraine.