FEMENA, a women’s rights group, has raised concerns about the potential exclusion of women and civil society from the upcoming Doha meeting.
The group has said that the voices of Afghan women should be prominently featured.
The organization criticized the United Nations for marginalizing Afghan women in critical discussions about their country’s future. “Listen to the diverse voices of Afghan women and engage them meaningfully,” Femena urged the international community.
FEMENA also recommended that the Taliban not be treated as a legitimate government, calling on participants to ensure the Taliban does not dominate the meeting’s agenda. “Appeasing the Taliban for almost three years has not improved the human rights situation; it has emboldened them to escalate their attacks on women and marginalized communities,” Femena stated on X.
The organization emphasized the importance of including the full spectrum of women’s rights on the agenda at the Doha meeting and warned against normalizing what it described as a Taliban “regime of gender apartheid.”
“We are concerned by the UN’s ongoing lack of genuine commitment to addressing the human rights crisis in Afghanistan,” FEMENA noted.
The third round of the Doha meeting on Afghanistan is scheduled for June 30. The meeting has faced strong criticism from women’s rights and human rights defenders, who report that human rights issues have been sidelined.
Taliban has announced its readiness to attend the meeting but warned that any changes in participants or agenda could affect its decision to participate.
