United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, ended his two days summit with representatives of at least 25 national on Afghanistan in the Qatari capital, Doha, with accusing the Taliban of deliberately undermining the development of the country.
The UN chief, who had not invited the Taliban to the meeting, said that the group’s restrictions on women and girls was a “grave violation of fundamental human rights.”
The group’s policies, he said, deliberately undermines the development of a country that desperately needs the contributions of all, in order to achieve sustainable peace and contribute to regional stability.” He accused the Taliban of “systemic attacks on women and girls.”
António Guterres said that the UN remains committed to providing humanitarian assistance to the people Afghanistan. 28 million people, he said, needed humanitarian aid to survive. To help them, the UN has been seeking $4.6 billion, but has only received “a mere $294 million – 6.4 per cent of the total funding required.”
The announcement of the meeting by António Guterres’s deputy, Amina Mohammed, ignited a controversy, with man accusing the UN of betraying the people of Afghanistan it facilitated a path to Taliban recognition.
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The UN chief said the meeting “about developing a common international approach, not about recognition of the de facto Taliban authorities.” But he did not elaborate further on what a common approach meant in practical terms.
António Guterres, however, stressed on the need to remain engaged with the Taliban.
“To achieve our objectives, we cannot disengage. Many called for engagement to be more effective and based on lessons which we have learned from the past.
“The UN will continue to use its convening power to advance a forward leaning approach, which puts the Afghan people first, and in a manner that is complementary to existing regional platforms and initiatives.”
The UN chief said that he had agreed to host another similar meeting after a round of consultations with participants.
