UN Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo on Tuesday defended the decision to exclude civil society groups, including women’s rights activists, from the two-day meeting on Afghanistan in Doha. She stated that the Taliban authorities were informed that women must be included in public life, despite their refusal to sit across the table with Afghan civil society in this format.
The UN-hosted meeting, which began on Sunday, is the third such gathering to be held in Qatar in just over a year, but the first to include the Taliban authorities who regained power in Afghanistan in 2021.
The talks were intended to discuss increasing engagement with Afghanistan and a more coordinated response to the country, including economic issues and counter-narcotics efforts. However, the international community has struggled with its approach to the Taliban since their return to power, with no country officially recognizing their government.
The Taliban refused an invitation to Doha talks in February, insisting on being the only Afghan representatives, to the exclusion of civil society groups. However, their condition was accepted in the build-up to this latest round. The United States agreed to participate in Monday’s talks after receiving assurances that the talks would meaningfully discuss human rights.
US representatives “made clear that the Afghan economy cannot grow while half the population’s rights are not respected”, according to State Department spokesman Vedant Patel.
DiCarlo, who chaired the UN talks in the Qatari capital, expressed hope that “there’ll be new consideration” of Taliban government policy on women in public life, including girls’ education.
The UN and international delegations will have the chance to meet with civil society representatives, including women’s rights groups, following the close of the main meetings. However, Amnesty International chief Agnes Callamard criticized the decision to cave in to the Taliban’s conditions, stating that it “would risk legitimising their gender-based institutionalised system of oppression”.
The head of the Taliban delegation, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, urged diplomats to “find ways of interaction and understanding rather than confrontation”, despite “natural” differences in policy. He also pressed to end sanctions, saying Afghans are “being ganged up on”.
Russia, which has maintained an embassy in Kabul, hinted it could drop its own sanctions, stating that the Taliban are the de facto authorities and must be recognized as such. DiCarlo said the issue of sanctions was raised but not discussed in depth, as it is a member-state issue whether they will continue certain sanctions or not.
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