UN Deputy Secretary-General: Human Rights and Women's Rights in Afghanistan Will Remain Consistent in Future Meetings

In a press conference on Tuesday (July 2) in Doha after meeting with several members of Afghanistan's civil society, Ms. DiCarlo said that the UN is at the beginning of a process to resolve Afghanistan's issues, a process that requires "patience and time."

She said, "We are still at the beginning of this process. We will need a lot of patience and must be realistic. This is a process based on an independent assessment that the UN Security Council decided on last November. This assessment is for a more coordinated and structured process with clear conditions and expectations from both sides."

The Deputy Secretary-General mentioned that eight representatives from Afghanistan's civil society participated in this meeting, both in person and virtually.

According to Ms. DiCarlo, civil society members provided valuable information about women's rights, minority rights, girls' education, media, business, and other issues in the country. They shared their perspectives and views on the Doha process.

Ms. DiCarlo described her meetings and sessions with several men and women representing Afghanistan's civil society as "important and useful." She noted that achieving the set goals requires building trust among all parties.

Ms. DiCarlo added, "We had civil society institutions in a meeting here. This morning we heard diverse perspectives. These perspectives must continue to be part of this process, and as I said this morning in the session and as I said in negotiations with [the interim Taliban government] officials, there really needs to be trust-building from both sides."

The Deputy Secretary-General said that the Taliban and Afghan citizens are not yet ready to sit together at the same table.

She said, "Ultimately, an 'intra-Afghan dialogue' is needed. What we are doing is not an 'intra-Afghan dialogue'; we are just bringing up issues and trying to gather different viewpoints."

In her view, the dialogues must be based on honesty and the principles of the UN Charter and various human rights treaties, of which Afghanistan is a part.

It is worth mentioning that the third meeting of special representatives for Afghanistan, hosted by the United Nations, was held on Sunday and Monday in Doha, without the presence of Afghan women and civil society members and with the participation of the Taliban and representatives from 25 countries and five international organizations.

However, this meeting faced widespread criticism from various countries, protesting women, civil activists, and human rights advocates in Afghanistan. Many women's protest movements and civil institutions in Afghanistan called for a boycott of this meeting due to the presence of the Taliban and the exclusion of women and civil society members.