Experts' Declaration

Declaration on Gender Apartheid

In August 2026, to mark the fifth anniversary of repressive Taliban rule and Afghan women’s resistance to it, a distinguished group of international human rights and legal experts - from Afghanistan, South Africa and around the world—will issue the International Declaration on Gender Apartheid and Its Negative Consequences. The Declaration calls for an immediate end to gender apartheid and for the comprehensive use and development of international law to that end.

Read the Declaration Register for the Aug 13 Launch Event
a group of Afghan women holding signs of protest
Afghan women take part in a protest in front of the Ministry of Education in Kabul on March 26, 2022, demanding that high schools be reopened for girls. (Photo by Ahmad SAHEL ARMAN / AFP via Getty Images)

In support of a global movement led by frontline women human rights defenders

The Declaration aims

  1. to promote codification of the prohibition of gender apartheid,
  2. to provide Afghan women human rights defenders and their supporters with a tool to use in their work to end gender apartheid, pending codification, and
  3. to promote the use of forward-looking, gender inclusive interpretations of international law, including with respect to the concept of apartheid.
See the History of the Declaration →
News

Save the Date: From Declaration to Action

On August 13, 2026, leading international experts will officially launch the Experts Declaration on Gender Apartheid, calling for the recognition of gender apartheid as a crime against humanity through its inclusion in the draft Crimes Against Humanity Treaty.

Read more