Afghanistan Peace CampaignAccording to the head of UNAMA, the Doha meeting has generated high expectations, which realistically cannot be met in a single session.
Roza Otunbayeva, the head of UNAMA, stated at the Security Council meeting on Friday night that engaging with the “Taliban” does not equate to legitimizing them.
During this meeting, Otunbayeva said the recognition of the Islamic Emirate is conditional on addressing women’s rights, including their education, and the creation of an acceptable constitution.
According to the head of UNAMA, the Doha meeting has generated high expectations, which realistically cannot be met in a single session.
Rosa Otunbayeva said: “There should also be no recognition of the de facto authorities until the issues of women’s rights, girls’ education, and an acceptable constitution are broadly addressed. There were high expectations that restrictions on women’s rights will be forcefully addressed at this meeting.”
Naseer Ahmad Faiq, Chargé d’Affaires of the Afghanistan Permanent Mission to the UN, said at the Security Council meeting: “We believe that a more effective and integrated international approach, as called for in the assessment report, requires consistent and parallel focus on issues of political process, the humanitarian crisis and the human rights situation, especially with regard to the rights of women and girls to education and employment. More broadly, we have consistently emphasized that international engagement should be principled and aligned with the principles and objectives of the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
The US deputy ambassador to the UN Robert Wood emphasized the participation of representatives of Afghan women and civil society in the third Doha meeting and added that human rights should not be removed from global priorities.
Wood added: We must ensure that women and civil society participants have a voice in Doha at the UN-hosted meeting of Special Envoys coming up in a few weeks. Their concerns must be highlighted in all deliberations on Afghanistan’s future.”
Ambassador Yamazaki Kazuyuki, Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations, also stated that Afghanistan and its neighboring countries alone cannot address the climate crisis, drug trafficking, and terrorism, and the international community must cooperate with the interim government in this regard.
Kazuyuki said: “Challenges faced by Afghanistan are certainly not limited to climate change and are wide ranging, from counternarcotics, counterterrorism, economy, and education and employment of women, among others. However, these challenges cannot be addressed by Afghanistan itself or the neighboring countries alone. We, the international community, can and should help Afghanistan ease the suffering of its own people.”
The representatives of Iran and Pakistan expressed concerns about the terrorism threats from Afghanistan at the Security Council meeting.
The representative of Iran said that his country doubts the interim government’s ability to effectively control terrorism, but he called engagement with the interim government vital for regional stability and peace.
The representative of Iran added: “Terrorism threats from within Afghanistan have raised many concerns. Iran doubts the ability of the governing officials to effectively manage these threats. Mr. President! Continued global engagement with the governing officials is crucial for regional stability and peace.”
Vasily Nebenzya, the Permanent Representative of Russia to the United Nations Security Council, said that building long-term and sustainable peace in Afghanistan is impossible without interaction with the de facto authorities on a wide range of issues.
Nebenzya added that there is simply no other way.
He also expressed that Moscow continues to be particularly concerned about the security risks caused by the continuing terrorist activity of “ISIL-Khorasan.”
The representative of India emphasized the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan, and the representative of the United Kingdom also stressed the implementation of Security Council Resolution 2721, which calls for the appointment of a special representative for Afghanistan.
At the end of the Security Council meeting, Rosa Otunbayeva, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Afghanistan, said at a press conference that on the second day of the Doha meeting, women’s representatives would also participate.
The Islamic Emirate has not yet commented on last night’s Security Council meeting; however, it had previously rejected the UN Secretary-General’s quarterly report on the increase in security incidents in Afghanistan.