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UN study warns recognizing IEA will intensify women’s rights crisis
A United Nations study revealed Friday that approximately two-thirds (67%) of women in Afghanistan fear the rights crisis would intensify if the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) is recognized by the international community.
"Women expressed dread and anxiety when asked to consider the possibility of international recognition of the DFA (de facto authorities)," according to the report jointly prepared by U.N. Women, the International Organization for Migration, and the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.
"Under the current circumstances, it could exacerbate the women's rights crisis and increase the risk that the DFA would reinforce and expand existing restrictions targeting women and girls," the report said.
The findings are based on interviews the U.N. agencies conducted online and in-person with 745 women across the 34 Afghan provinces between January 27 and February 8.
The U.N. report said that women requested the international community not to recognize the IEA unless they reverse the restrictions.
The interviewees stated that the best way for the world to improve the rights situation in Afghanistan was to link international aid "to better conditions for women, and to facilitate opportunities for women to talk directly with the Taliban (IEA)."
Amnesty International also demanded Friday that the Doha meeting must mark an end to impunity for human rights abuse under the IEA.
The watchdog group noted in its statement that "discriminatory restrictions on the rights of women and girls, with the apparent aim of completely erasing them from public arenas" have intensified in recent months.
IEA spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that the United Nations is not following its principles over the issue of recognizing the Afghan government.
"The issue of recognition also has its own principles in international laws. Interviews with a few people cannot be used as a criterion for recognizing or not recognizing a government. Unfortunately, the United Nations, without considering its own principles, is dealing differently with Afghanistan in this regard, and it is putting pressure from all sides,” Mujahid said.
He added that UN is used as a tool by some powerful countries.
The UN report on women comes ahead of Sunday's UN-convened conference in Qatar, where member states and regional organizations' special envoys on Afghanistan will discuss the global engagement approach with the IEA.
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Suhail Shaheen meets with Chinese ambassador to Qatar
The head of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s (IEA) political office in Doha, Suhail Shaheen, met with China’s ambassador to Qatar late Monday for talks on bilateral relations, good neighborliness, and trade and investment opportunities between the two countries.
“About the Wakhan road, the export of Afghanistan's fresh fruit to China, the reconstruction of cold stores, China's assistance in the field of medical equipment to the Ministry of Health and good neighborliness between the two countries were discussed,” Shaheen said in a voice message.
China and the Islamic Emirate have been rapidly expanding relations in recent months.
Experts, meanwhile, have said that other countries need to engage with the IEA, as China is doing, in order for Afghanistan to come out of isolation.
Shaheen also met with Katharina Ritz, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delegation to Afghanistan.
He discussed numerous issues including humanitarian assistance, health sector challenges and climate change.
Both sides emphasized that ICRC activities need to be expanded, considering the needs of the people.
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IFRC reports over half of Afghanistan’s population needs urgent humanitarian aid
Afghanistan ranks among the most vulnerable countries globally to climate change and disaster risks
The International Federation of Red Crescent (IFRC) has reported that Afghanistan continues to face prolonged and complex humanitarian crises.
IFRC said in a report published on Tuesday, that about 23.7 million people, more than half of Afghanistan’s population, are in urgent need of humanitarian aid.
According to the IFRC, natural disasters, the growing impact of climate change, population displacement, economic challenges, and food insecurity are the main factors contributing to Afghanistan’s ongoing humanitarian crisis.
Afghanistan ranks among the most vulnerable countries globally to climate change and disaster risks.
The country is also prone to earthquakes, with nearly 400 tremors recorded in the last three years, including significant quakes, such as the 6.3 magnitude in Herat Province in October last year.
The compounding effects of disasters in the country have exacerbated the already fragile situation in Afghanistan, the IFRC’s report read.
These successive disasters have pushed more Afghans into poverty and heightened their vulnerability.
In addition, Afghanistan’s economic crisis is widespread, with more than half of households experiencing an economic shock.
The country’s economy is heavily dependent on foreign aid and remittances, which have declined significantly since the political change in 2021.
This has resulted in high levels of unemployment, challenging people’s coping mechanisms and thwarting the already fragile economy’s ability to adapt to shocks, the report read.
The IFRC said more than 85 percent of the country’s population is now living below the poverty line.
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Maldives recalls envoy to Pakistan over meeting with Afghanistan envoy
The island nation’s foreign ministry said the much publicized meeting had not been sanctioned by the government
The Maldives government has recalled its top diplomat in Pakistan after he had an unauthorized meeting with an Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan envoy in Islamabad.
The island nation’s foreign ministry said the much publicized meeting between the Maldives High Commissioner Mohamed Thoha and IEA envoy Sardar Ahmad Shakeeb on Friday had not been sanctioned by the government.
Maldives media reported that the foreign ministry stated: “Consequently, appropriate action has been taken by the government of Maldives.”
Thoha’s name has also been removed from the website of the Maldives mission in Islamabad, and an official source told AFP that he had been recalled.
Since regained control of Afghanistan in August 2021, no country has yet officially recognized the government.
However, the IEA has been making inroads into the diplomatic arena and has official missions now stationed in a number of regional countries.
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