KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – A group of Afghan women and civil society activists met online with the UN’s political chief, Rosemary DiCarlo, to express disappointment over their exclusion from upcoming talks with the Taliban in Doha.
Nargis Nehan, a women’s rights activist and former Afghan minister, said in a post on X the virtual meeting took place on June 26.
Nehan expressed concerns about the UN “appeasing” Taliban demands by excluding Afghan women and civil society from the main discussions and omitting women’s rights from the agenda.
“If the UN follows Afghanistan’s social media, it will realize that in the current situation the Doha Talks is facing a legitimacy challenge because a large number of women are proposing to boycott the process,” Nehan said in the post.
The UN will host the third meeting of special envoys on Afghanistan on coming Sunday in Doha, Qatar. Unlike previous meetings, representatives from Afghan civil society and women have not been invited to participate in the main discussions.
The UN invited the Taliban to the meeting, hoping for a high-level delegation. However, the regime recently announced that they will attend at the spokesperson level.
The exclusion of Afghan women has drawn sharp criticism from activists and rights groups, with some calling for a boycott and holding protests worldwide.
In protest of the UN’s decision to exclude women from the main talks, Zubaida Akbar, an Afghan women’s rights advocate invited to the sidelined meeting, has declined the UN invitation. She said women deserve a seat at the main table to shape the agenda and prioritize their rights.
“I am outraged by the UN’s decision to exclude women from Doha 3 on the Taliban’s terms, undermining its own commitments to uphold women’s rights and meaningful participation,” Akbar said.
Akbar also criticized the meeting’s format, saying it “appears to achieve nothing other than appeasing the Taliban.”
