The Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation today received Malala Yousafzai, activist for human rights and the right to education for women and girls. The meeting took place at the request of the Nobel Prize winner, who wanted to thank Albares for Spain's leadership in the defence of international law, human rights and gender equality.
The minister conveyed Spain's support for Malala's campaign to criminalise gender-based crimes. He also recalled that Spain co-sponsored, together with the Philippines, Iceland, Malta, Mexico and the End Apartheid Campaign (in which the Malala Fund participates), an event on gender justice on the sidelines of the first preparatory conference for the negotiation of a convention for the prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity held in New York earlier this year.
Afghan women and girls
Albares highlighted Spain's support for the cause of Afghan women and girls. Our country remains firmly committed to Afghan women and girls, especially since the Taliban took power in August 2021, and defends the need to promote accountability for human rights violations, with particular attention to the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.
Spain, together with Chile, France, Costa Rica, Mexico and Luxembourg, submitted a referral of the situation in Afghanistan to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2024, urging it to consider investigating crimes committed by the Taliban against women and girls as part of its investigation into the situation in Afghanistan, in light of the worsening conditions for women and girls in the country.
Spain has also supported the establishment, within the Human Rights Council, of an independent investigation mechanism for human rights violations committed by the Taliban regime.
Comprehensive response
Our country has also promoted a comprehensive response that combines humanitarian action, international protection and active defence of the rights of Afghan women and girls in multilateral forums. Within this framework, Spain has supported and given visibility to the voices of Afghan women through initiatives such as the HearUs conferences, an action that is part of the Feminist Foreign Policy promoted by Minister Albares, which places gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls at the heart of our foreign policy.
Finally, the Minister noted that Spain will continue to cooperate with the Malala Fund in its global efforts to defend and keep Afghan women and girls at the centre of the international agenda.
For images of the meeting, click
here.