RASC News Agency: The Guardian, citing various human rights groups and politicians, reports that excluding women from the third Doha meeting is a “betrayal” of Afghanistani women and girls. The Guardian notes that the Taliban have insisted on the absence of women at the Doha talks. Earlier, Human Rights Watch reported that the United Nations had largely removed the issue of women’s rights from the agenda of the third Doha meeting.
The Guardian also reported that women’s rights have been excluded from the agenda of the Doha meeting, scheduled to be held on June 30 in Qatar. However, Rosa Otunbayeva, Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), stated at a UN Security Council meeting on Friday, June 21, that women would participate on the second day of the Doha talks.
It is worth noting that since regaining power in Afghanistan, the Taliban have imposed increasingly severe bans and restrictions on women. For nearly three years, girls above the sixth grade have been barred from attending school under Taliban rule, and women have also been banned from universities. Additionally, the Taliban have imposed strict limitations on women’s presence in public places, including banning them from bathhouses, beauty salons, and parks.
Most recently, the Taliban have reduced the salaries of both current female employees and women confined to their homes and barred from offices, to 5,000 kabuli rupees. The Doha meeting, set to take place in less than 10 days, will see the participation of special representatives from various countries and possibly a Taliban representative, to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.
