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Fortune Magazine ranks Fawzia Koofi among top 50 world leaders
Fortune Magazine has listed Afghan women’s rights activist and former MP Fawzia Koofi among the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders.
Koofi is currently a key member of the Afghan Republic’s peace talks team and has regularly taken her seat, along with three other Afghan women, across the talks tables with the Taliban in Doha.
Fortune Magazine has ranked Koofi as number 40 in the world and stated that “being one of the few women in the room is tough enough, but when she enters peace talks with the Taliban, she’s not only vastly outnumbered by men, she’s also sitting across from the militant group that imprisoned her late husband and tried to kill her at least once”.
The Taliban targeted her convoy in 2010, and an unidentified gunman shot her in August 2020.
But Koofi remains unintimidated and quick to speak her mind. On recent developments around the withdrawal of foreign forces, she has said this decision is a “moral defeat” that could jeopardize negotiations with the Taliban.
But, as Fortune Magazine stated, she’s determined to press on because “we know that an inclusive Afghanistan is the only path to a lasting, just peace and end to the war.”
Last year Koofi won the CASA Asia award for "diversity and sustainable development" for her support of the rights of women and children, her role in the peace process and her commitment to the education of girls and women.
The winners of the Casa Asia 2021 Awards were announced in Madrid, Spain after judges considered 52 nominations submitted in four categories.
Koofi is from Afghanistan’s northeastern Badakhshan - the province she represented as an Afghan MP in the Wolesi Jirga, Lower House of Parliament.
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IEA delegation attends conference for ‘Promoting Mining Cooperation’ in China
The Ministry of Mines and Petroleum said on Saturday in a statement that its delegation participated in a conference titled "Promoting Mining Cooperation" in China’s Hunan province.
The Ministry stated the conference aims to build a well-equipped laboratory in Afghanistan, increase the capacity of technical and professional employees of the Ministry of Mines, and encourage investors in the mineral resources sector of Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Chinese investors expressed their interest in Afghanistan’s gold, copper, mica, talc, oil, gas, lithium, lead and zinc mines.
At the conference, the ministry’s deputy minister of finance and administration and head of the delegation Hussamuddin Saberi talked about Afghanistan's natural resources contracts and investment opportunities and considered holding such programs effective for the relations between the two countries.
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Uzbekistan, EU envoys meet to discuss Afghanistan
Uzbekistan’s special representative for Afghanistan, Ismatulla Irgashev, on Friday met with the EU Special Representative for Central Asia Terhi Hakala.
During the meeting, the parties discussed the current state and prospects of Uzbek-European relations in the Afghan direction, the efforts of the international community to prevent a humanitarian crisis in the country and the possibility of using the international transport and logistics hub in Termez to deliver humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, Uzbekistan’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
Hakala highly appreciated the efforts of Uzbekistan to develop a consolidated regional position on Afghanistan, establish long-term peace and stability in the country, according to the statement.
The parties expressed mutual interest in continuing bilateral consultations on the Afghan issue, the statement added.
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UN expert calls for comprehensive, rights-focused action plan for Afghanistan
A UN expert on Friday called on the international community to devise and implement a comprehensive, human rights-centered action plan to address the human rights crisis in Afghanistan.
“The absence of a unified, forceful response from the international community has emboldened the Taliban (IEA),” UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, said.
In his latest report to the UN General Assembly, Bennett said that the human rights situation in Afghanistan is worsening, which includes systematic gender oppression, amounting to gender persecution and which many Afghans term “gender apartheid” with intergenerational implications.
Bennett expressed concern about the new “vice and virtue” law, announced in August, which he believes has institutionalized an expanding list of restrictions that “blatantly violate the rights of women and girls.”
He also expressed concern about the “shrinking civic space” in Afghanistan, the situation of minorities, journalists, and former government officials and security personnel.
“Justice, equality, and the rule of law are being systematically undermined,” he said.
The UN expert also called for increased funding and support for Afghan civil society and humanitarian efforts to mitigate the crisis.
Bennett urged the IEA to reverse its “repressive policies” and reinstate basic human rights. He pressed the international community to take a coordinated, multifaceted approach to support the Afghan people.
Bennett urged states not to normalize relations with the IEA until there are demonstrable human rights improvements and pathways to justice and accountability.
This comes as the Islamic Emirate has said that it is committed to ensuring human rights, including the rights of women and girls, according to Sharia, and this is an internal issue of Afghanistan.
The Islamic Emirate has banned Richard Bennett from traveling to Afghanistan, saying that he exaggerates small issues.
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