UN eyes upcoming international meeting in Doha on Afghanistan

An international meeting on Afghanistan will convene in the coming weeks in Doha where envoys will seek to "clarify expectations" on multiple concerns including Taliban restrictions on women, a UN official told AFP Wednesday. (File/AFP)

• The UN mission in Afghanistan has launched an assessment of its operations following a ban on Afghan women working for the United Nations
• In a speech Monday at Princeton University, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed referred to the upcoming gathering as a meeting of envoys at all levels

UNITED NATIONS, USA: An international meeting on Afghanistan will convene in the coming weeks in Doha where envoys will seek to “clarify expectations” on multiple concerns including Taliban restrictions on women, a UN official told AFP Wednesday.
“The meeting that will take place in Doha in a few weeks with international envoys will offer an opportunity to discuss and clarify expectations on a range of issues,” said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
The UN mission in Afghanistan has launched an assessment of its operations following a ban on Afghan women working for the United Nations.
In a speech Monday at Princeton University, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed referred to the upcoming gathering as a meeting of envoys at all levels, from the region and internationally, including Guterres.
She also addressed the prospect of the meeting discussing the “baby steps” needed that could put the Taliban hard-line Islamist regime “back on the pathway to recognition” by the international community, albeit with “conditions” attached.
“There are some who believe this can never happen. There are others that say, well, it has to happen,” Mohammed said.
“The Taliban clearly want recognition... and that’s the leverage we have.”
Last December the UN General Assembly approved a decision by its credentialing committee to postpone any approval of Kabul’s request to accredit a new ambassador representing them at the United Nations following the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021.
Recognition of the Taliban is “an issue that can be only decided by member states,” Dujarric said Wednesday.
He stressed that the UN deputy secretary-general, who is deeply involved in the issue, spoke at Princeton merely about “reaffirming the need for the international community to have a coordinated approach regarding Afghanistan.”
“This includes finding common ground on the longer-term vision for the country, and sending a unified message to the de facto authorities on the imperative to ensure women have their rightful place in the Afghan society.”
The meeting is expected around May 1 and is being held at the initiative of the secretary-general, according to a UN source.
It was unclear at this stage whether or not the Taliban would be represented at the talks.
On April 4 the Taliban banned Afghan women from working for UN offices countrywide, sparking opprobrium from the West and a United Nations review of the world body’s Afghanistan operations.