The Taliban will not be present at discussions on how to deal with Afghanistan’s leaders and pressure them to lift a ban on women working and girls attending school that is set to begin Monday in Qatar under the direction of the United Nations.
Representatives from roughly 25 nations and NGOs, including the US, China, and Russia as well as significant European aid contributors and important neighbours like Pakistan, have been invited to the two days of negotiations by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Although the Taliban government was not invited, the issue of whether to recognise the administration loomed large before the meeting.
A tiny group of Afghan women organised a protest march over the weekend in Kabul to reject any efforts to recognise the newly installed leaders who returned to power in August 2021.
In an open letter to the Doha meeting released Sunday, a coalition of Afghan women’s groups said they were “outraged” that any country would consider formal ties because of the record of the government that says its handling of women’s rights is “an internal social issue”.
The United Nations and United States have insisted that recognition is not on the agenda.
Rights’ groups fears have been fuelled by UN deputy secretary-general Amina Mohammed, who said last month that the Doha meeting could find “baby steps” that lead to a “principled recognition” of the Taliban government.
The UN said that the remarks were misconstrued. No nation has formally connected with the Taliban government, and the UN General Assembly alone has the authority to decide whether a country will be included.
The discussion “is intended to achieve a common understanding within the international community on how to engage with the Taliban” about women’s and girls’ rights, inclusive governance, combatting terrorism, and drug trafficking, according to Guterres’ office before his arrival in Doha.
