Dear Under-Secretary-General Ms. Rosemary DiCarlo,

We are writing on behalf of the Afghanistan LGBTIQ Organization, an advocacy organization dedicated to promoting the human rights of LGBTIQ Afghans, and Outright International, a global human rights advocacy organization that works to improve the lives of LGBTIQ people everywhere. We write to raise concerns about the lack of inclusion of LGBTIQ perspectives in UN engagement on Afghanistan to date and to request that the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA), under your leadership, work with the Security Council, the proposed UN Special Envoy on Afghanistan, and other relevant UN organs to adopt a more inclusive approach in the implementation of Resolution 2721 (December 2023) and in all future UN engagement on Afghanistan.

LGBTIQ people are among the most marginalized groups in Afghanistan. Extensive documentation by non-governmental organizations demonstrates that since the Taliban seized power, LGBTIQ people have been subjected to grave human rights violations including rape, arbitrary detention, torture, forced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and the death penalty. We are deeply concerned by the inattention to these severe violations on the part of the Security Council, the United Nations Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), and the Special Coordinator responsible for the recently issued independent assessment.