Afghanistan’s Taliban government is expected to send officials to Qatar next weekend to meet with senior United Nations (UN) officials and representatives from up to 25 countries for a two-day meeting. The announcement drew criticism from human rights groups for not including Afghan women.
This will be the third UN-led meeting of its kind in Doha, but the first to be attended by the Taliban, who have not been recognized internationally since seizing power in August 2021, when US-led forces withdrew from the country after 20 years of war.
The UN has been trying to find a more unified international approach to dealing with the Taliban, who have repressed women’s rights since returning to power.
“To exclude women risks legitimizing the Taliban’s abuses and doing irreparable damage to the UN’s credibility as a champion of women’s rights and women’s meaningful participation,” said Tirana Hassan, executive director of Human Rights Watch, about the third meeting in Doha.
UN political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo, UN special envoy for Afghanistan Roza Otunbayeva and envoys from several countries are expected to meet separately with Afghan civil society groups after meetings with the Taliban, the UN said.
The meetings in Doha are “part of a process and are not isolated”. Women and civil society continue to be part of it, said UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric this Sunday.
“They also aim to encourage de facto authorities to engage with the international community with a coordinated and structured approach for the benefit of the Afghan people,” Dujarric said.
“Human rights and the rights of women and girls will have a prominent place in all discussions, certainly by the UN”, he added.
Since the Taliban returned to power, most girls have been prevented from attending secondary school and women from universities.
The Taliban have also barred most Afghan female employees from working in aid agencies, closed beauty salons, banned women from parks and restricted women’s travel in the absence of a male guardian.
The Taliban say they respect rights according to their interpretation of Islamic law.
Source: CNN Brasil
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