Zubaida Akbar, a prominent Afghan human rights activist, announced that despite receiving an invitation from the United Nations to attend the Doha meeting, she will not participate due to the exclusion of women from the main negotiating table.
Ms. Akbar reacted to the UN’s decision, saying she is outraged by the removal of women based on the Taliban’s conditions. She added that by sidelining women, this meeting achieves nothing but appeasement of the Taliban.
Human rights activists say that while Afghanistan faces the most serious crisis of women’s rights in the world, the UN has excluded women from the composition and main agenda of the Doha meeting, which is scheduled to take place late next week with the participation of Taliban representatives.
Meanwhile, some women and civil society activists have only been invited to attend side meetings with special representatives of countries. It is still unclear to whom the UN has sent invitations.
There has been widespread criticism of the UN’s decision to exclude women’s representatives and civil society from the main Doha meeting. Human rights activists believe that given the dire situation of women in Afghanistan, the issue of women’s rights should have been a top priority on the agenda of this meeting.
