Deputy Chief proposes meeting to discuss recognition of Taliban

KABUL (Khaama Press): The United Nations Deputy Chief, Amina Mohammad, said Monday that the organization plans to arrange a conference in the coming days to discuss granting recognition to Afghanistan’s Taliban.
Mohammed meanwhile said: “We have amazing envoys that work on Afghanistan, and we have Afghan women too, and what we are hoping is that we will gather them now in another two weeks in the region, and they will have that first meeting of envoys across the board, the region and internationally with the secretary general for the first time.”
“And out of that, we hope that we will find those baby steps to put us back on the pathway to recognition [of the Taliban], a principled recognition,” Mohammed said. “Is it possible? I don’tdon’t [But] that discussion has to happen. The Taliban want recognition, and that is the leverage we have.”
She continued by saying that it would be “a principle recognition” and “in other words, there are conditions.” She said that while the UN bargains with the Taliban to lift the ban on women, it has instructed its Afghan female workers to work from home. She also mentioned that female workers might be paid to work remotely.
She added, “Please treat the Taliban like COVID. We don’t know what they are going to do or how they will react. … But I know three or four [women] are picked up, and maybe I would not see them again. I am not going to risk anyone Afghan woman to people we know are unpredictable.”
The remarks came after the announcement made by the UNDP on Tuesday, saying that the UN is ready to take the “heartbreaking” decision to pull out of the country in May if it cannot persuade the Taliban to allow Afghan female aid workers for the organization.
“It is fair to say that where we are right now is the entire United Nations system having to take a step back and re-evaluate its ability to operate there,” Mr Steiner said. “But it is not about negotiating fundamental principles, human rights.”
Earlier this month, the UN local female aid workers were banned while the Taliban authorities reacted to the organization’s decision, referring to it as an “internal issue.”
Since the Taliban takeover of the country in August 2021, the group has issued a more suppressive policy regarding women and girls, depriving them of their fundamental rights.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan described the Taliban’s move as a “cruel blow to Afghan women’s rights”. It said that the Taliban had broken its promises to maintain girls’ schools open beyond the sixth grade.