UNITED NATIONS
\nThe UN secretary-general is convening an international meeting on Afghanistan May 1-2 in Doha, where envoys will seek a \u201cdurable way forward\u201d for the war-torn country, his spokesman said Wednesday.
\nAntonio Guterres will host the closed-door gathering featuring special envoys on Afghanistan from various countries who aim to \u201cclarify expectations\u201d on concerns including the Taliban authorities\u2019 restrictions on women, according to spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
\n\u201cThe purpose of this kind of small group meeting is for us to reinvigorate the international engagement around the common objectives for a durable way forward on the situation in Afghanistan,\u201d Dujarric told reporters at UN headquarters.
\nGuterres \u201ccontinues to believe that it\u2019s an urgent priority to advance an approach based on pragmatism and principles, combined with strategic patience, and to identify parameters for creative, flexible, principled and constructive engagement.\u201d
\nIt was unclear at this stage whether or not Taliban leadership would be represented at the talks.
\nThe United Nations mission in Afghanistan has launched an assessment of its operations following a ban on Afghan women working for the world body.
\nThe announcement of the meet in Qatar\u2019s capital followed remarks Monday by UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, who addressed the prospect of the envoys gathering to discuss the \u201cbaby steps\u201d that could put the Taliban government back on the pathway to recognition by the international community, albeit with conditions attached.
\n\u201cThere are some who believe this can never happen. There are others that say, well, it has to happen,\u201d Mohammed said in a talk at Princeton University.
\n\u201cThe Taliban clearly want recognition and that\u2019s the leverage we have.\u201d
\nBut Dujarric, the spokesman, on Wednesday stressed that Mohammed \u201cwas not in any way implying that anyone else but member states have the authority for recognition\u201d of Afghanistan\u2019s government.
\nLast December the UN General Assembly approved a decision by its credentialing committee to postpone any approval of Kabul\u2019s request to accredit a new ambassador representing them at the United Nations following the Taliban\u2019s return to power in August 2021.
\nDujarric said at Princeton the UN deputy secretary-general – who is deeply involved in the issue – spoke merely about \u201creaffirming the need for the international community to have a coordinated approach regarding Afghanistan.\u201d
\n\u201cThis includes finding common ground on the longer-term vision for the country, and sending a unified message to the de facto authorities on the imperative to ensure women have their rightful place in the Afghan society,\u201d he added.
\nOn April 4 the Taliban authorities banned Afghan women from working for UN offices countrywide, sparking opprobrium from the West and a United Nations review of the world body\u2019s Afghanistan operations.
\nThe announcement of the Doha meeting comes a day after the UN said the number of Afghans in poverty had nearly doubled to 34 million since the Taliban takeover.
\nThere is no contemporary census data for Afghanistan but the UN uses a population estimate of 40 million, meaning 85 per cent of the nation is projected to be in poverty. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
UNITED NATIONS The UN secretary-general is convening an international meeting on Afghanistan May 1-2 in Doha, where envoys will seek a \u201cdurable way forward\u201d for the war-torn country, his spokesman said Wednesday. Antonio Guterres will host the closed-door gathering featuring special envoys on Afghanistan from various countries who aim to \u201cclarify expectations\u201d on concerns including […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":327058,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-327040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n