DOHA: The UN Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo on Monday said Taliban authorities were told to include women in public life during official talks in Doha.
Rights organisations have strongly condemned the controversial move of the UN to exclude some groups, including women’s rights activists, from the two-day summit on Afghanistan as the price for the participation of the Taliban.
“Authorities will not sit across the table with Afghan civil society in this format, but they have heard very clearly the need to include women and civil society in all aspects of public life”, DiCarlo told a Doha news conference.
The UN-hosted summit began on Sunday and is the third such event to be held in Qatar in a year, but the first to include the Taliban authorities who took power in Afghanistan for a second time in 2021.
The talks were expected to discuss increasing engagement with Afghanistan and a more coordinated response to the country, including counter-narcotics efforts and economic issues.
The Taliban government in Kabul has so far not been officially recognised by any other country since it took power in 2021. The group has imposed restrictions, especially on women criticized by the rights groups and the UN.
DiCarlo, who chaired the UN talks in the Qatari capital, said she hopes that the Taliban would consider their policy on women in public life including girls’ education.
Chief of Amnesty International Agnes Callamard in a statement before the talks said that accepting Taliban’s conditions for their participation in the talks would risk legitimising their gender-based system of oppression.
The Taliban authorities have repeatedly said the rights of all citizens are ensured under Islamic law.
The head of the Taliban delegation, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told the more than 20 special envoys and UN officials at the summit’s opening session that diplomats must explore ways of interaction and understanding rather than confrontation with Taliban.
He added that the Taliban are keen on engaging constructively with Western countries as well.
Taliban authorities on Monday said they would press the global community to lift economic sanctions at the meetings.
