By Mitra Majeedy in TOLOnews Online, Dec 11, 2023 at 7:38 PM
The United Nations Security Council held a closed-door meeting on Afghanistan.
In the meeting hosted by Switzerland, members of the council also discussed the assessment of the situation in Afghanistan conducted by Feridun Sinirlioğlu, special coordinator of the UN for Afghanistan.
Some Afghan women were also invited to the meeting.
“On December 11, security council members will hold a closed-door on the recommendation of the UN assessment on Afghanistan, this time there will be a few Afghan women in the room, but we are still concerned about the lack of transparency in this process. This is the third closed-door meeting, the first was briefing by the special coordinator, the second was a closed-door security council meeting,” said Heather Barr, director of the Women’s Rights Division at Human Rights Watch.
But the Islamic Emirate says that Afghanistan should be seen as am opportunity and that countries should not stand against Afghanistan.
The spokesperson for the Islamic Emirate said that such meetings do not bring any hope for opening diplomatic doors.
“Displaying Afghanistan’s situation as worse than it is will not have a positive outcome. There is no hope that such meetings will open any diplomatic doors for Afghanistan,” said Zabiullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Islamic Emirate.
In the meantime, political analysts and human rights activists are of the view that the policies of the Islamic Emirate are crucial for engagement with the world.
“The report of Feridun Sinirlioğlu was conducted based on a resolution of the UNSC. Now there is a follow up meeting on that. The important issue is that if women’s rights to education and work are protected in Afghanistan as in other Islamic countries, this will resolve most of the problems of the country,” said Tariq Farhadi, a political analyst.
“Other meetings were not fruitful, we hope that this will lead to the reopening of schools and universities for girls and respect for the rights of Afghan people,” said Tafseer Sia Posh, a women’s rights activist.
This comes as participants at the DOHA Forum discussed restrictions on girls’ education in Afghanistan and urged further investment on women’s education in the country.
https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-186447
