“We Cannot Let Afghan Women Down”: USG DiCarlo Discusses UN Involvement in Afghanistan Engagement Process
The Under-Secretary-General spoke at a high-level side event held on the margins of the General Assembly on the inclusion of women in all areas of Afghan public and political life.
NEW YORK, 23 September 2024: Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo spoke today at a high-level side event on the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan, highlighting that unless the de facto authorities recognize the rights of women — one half of its population — Afghanistan will not take its proper place in global affairs.
Ireland, Qatar, Switzerland, Indonesia and the Women’s Forum of Afghanistan organized the event, which saw the participation of Forum members Asila Wardak, Habiba Sarabi and Fawzia Koofi, former Afghan peace negotiators; Foreign Minister of Ireland Micheál Martin; Minister of State for International Cooperation Lolwah bint Rashid Al-Khater of Qatar; President of Switzerland Viola Amherd; and Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi. Margot Wallstrom, former Foreign Minister of Sweden and Forum Chair, moderated the discussion.
In introductory remarks, Secretary-General António Guterres underscored the “deep crisis of gender-based discrimination and oppression” faced by women in Afghanistan. Referring to the “morality law” passed by the Taliban in August, which prohibits women from speaking or showing their faces outside their homes, he said it “formalized the systematic erasure of women and girls from public life.”
“Extreme gender-based discrimination is not only a systematic abuse of women and girls and a violation of human rights conventions and laws,” he said. “It completely undermines the de facto authorities’ stated objective of economic self-reliance.” “Without educated women, without women in employment, including in leadership roles, and without recognizing the rights and freedoms of one-half of its population, Afghanistan will never take its rightful place on the global stage.”
Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo said the United Nations was shepherding a process of principled engagement with Afghanistan’s de facto authorities, for the benefit of the Afghani people. The so-called “Doha process” brought together special envoys from some 30 countries and international organizations and entailed a “step-for-step” approach: the de facto authorities are expected to make governance more inclusive; respect women and girls’ rights; and increase effective counterterrorism and counter-narcotics efforts. In exchange, she said, the international community would incrementally ease its restrictions.
However, the recent adoption by the Taliban risked upending this process, she cautioned. “At this point, those who have been participating in our process want to continue, but they really expect the Taliban to take part in good faith. They’ve got to start abiding by their international obligations.”
Wardak said that women in Afghanistan had been “cast into the shadows” and “restricted from the most basic freedoms — freedoms that most of us take for granted.” She said that Afghan women under the Taliban could not work, or be seen or heard, or even “speak openly about the oppression that has been imposed on them.” She underscored that the new morality law of the Taliban had now codified their repression, banning them from participating in all aspects of public life.
Actor Meryl Streep, introducing an excerpt from the documentary film, The Sharp Edge of Peace, which follows the participation of four Afghan women leaders in governmental talks prior to the Taliban takeover, said that the way Afghan culture had been upended in recent years was “a cautionary tale” for the rest of the world. “In the 1970s, most of the civil servants were women, over half the teachers, doctors, there were women jurists, lawyers, in every profession, and then the world upended,” she said.
“And today in Kabul,” Streep continued, “a female cat has more freedoms than a woman. A cat may go sit on her front stoop and feel the sun on her face. She may chase a squirrel into the park. A squirrel has more rights than a girl in Afghanistan today, because the public parks have been closed to women and girls by the Taliban.”
The Women’s Forum on Afghanistan is a platform led by Afghan women leaders — with support from global women leaders — that works for the inclusion of Afghan women in the country’s public and political life.
Taking questions from the media after the event, DiCarlo said: “There are a lot of things that the Taliban need to do to unlock the kind of cooperation assistance, support from the international community. The goal here is to really see the Taliban live up to all of the obligations, all of the commitments they have made.”
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