UN Summit on Afghanistan: Talks on Women's Rights Amid Taliban Absence
On the second day of a UN-sponsored meeting on the "evolving situation" in Afghanistan and possible international engagement since the Taliban took control in mid-2021, special envoys from over twenty-four countries met in the capital of Qatar. Among the topics discussed were women's rights. However, the Taliban representatives were notably absent from the meeting.
On his first day in Doha, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres met behind closed doors with delegates from a number of countries and organisations.
Among the Afghan delegates in Doha who are not associated with the Taliban administration is Mahbouba Seraj, a representative of civil society and women's rights. Seraj told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi that the situation of women and girls under the Taliban would be a focus.
She expressed hope that the voices of Afghan women, who are oppressed and marginalised by the fundamentalist Taliban, would "finally be heard, that this issue will be followed up on, and indeed someone" would stand up for them.
There are a lot of restrictions, such as the fact that girls cannot attend school beyond the sixth grade, that women cannot attend colleges, and that women cannot work in the non-governmental sector or for most government entities.
The United Nations Department of Political Affairs and Peacebuilding (DPPA) sent an invitation to the Taliban leadership, but they turned it down. Among the 25 countries and organisations expected to participate were those from "Afghanistan, the wider region, and beyond," according to the organisers.
It was also anticipated that "Other regional organisations working actively on Afghanistan such as the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the European Union, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation" would be present.
Since assuming power in mid-2021, when the U.S.-led international coalition that remained in Afghanistan for twenty years after 9/11 withdrew, the Taliban administration has been mostly ignored by the international community.
On February 17, the Taliban's foreign ministry expressed its displeasure with the anticipated presence of non-Taliban Afghan delegates at the Doha summit, stating that the non-acceptance of its conditions rendered participation in the meeting fruitless.
The current session, according to the DPPA, will "take place in the context of Security Council resolution 2721 (2023)," which urges member states to seek a "clear end state of an Afghanistan at peace with itself and its neighbours, fully reintegrated into the international community, and meeting international obligations."
This is the second UN summit of its kind in the last year; the first was in May 2023.