A United Nations-led international conference ended Monday with consensus on the goals Taliban rulers must meet but little progress on how the world should coordinate engagement with the unrecognized government.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres convened special representatives to Afghanistan from 25 countries as well as the European Union, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization for a two-day conference in Qatar’s capital, Doha.
The Taliban refused to attend, saying participation was “unbeneficial” if the U.N. did not see them as the sole representatives of Afghanistan.
However, Rosemary di Carlo, U.N. undersecretary-general for political and peacebuilding affairs, met separately with a Taliban representative from the group’s Doha-based political office.
At the press briefing after the event, Guterres rejected the notion that the U.N. failed to bring Afghanistan’s de facto rulers to the table because of ineffective communication, saying the conditions the Taliban had placed were unacceptable.
“These conditions, first of all, denied us the right to talk to other representatives of the Afghan society and demanded a treatment that would, I would say, to a large extent be similar to recognition,” Guterres said.
Supporting the Taliban, Russia said the hardline group’s decision to not attend, “as they were offered to take part only in a marginal part of the meeting,” was “valid.”
Questioning the selection of the few Afghan civil society members invited, the Russian delegation refused to engage with them.
At Afghan authorities' request, Russian representatives “decided to abstain from the conveners’ meeting with the participation of so-called Afghan civil society participants, who were, by the way, chosen in a nontransparent manner, behind Kabul’s back,” a Russian Embassy statement posted on social media said.
Speaking to reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York, Russia’s permanent representative to the world body, Vassily Nebenzia, told reporters his country was not abandoning the issue of Afghan women’s rights. He defended the Russian decision to reject meeting Afghan activists as a pragmatic choice.
“There are other things for Afghanistan that should be dealt with and should be attended to … and we have to engage with those people who rule Afghanistan now," he said.
Consensus and criticism
The meeting, convened to discuss the recommendations of a U.N.-sponsored, independent assessment of Afghanistan, saw “complete consensus” on the goals outlined in last year’s review, Guterres said.
These goals include having an Afghan government that is inclusive, rather than the all-male, predominantly Pashtun Taliban setup; ending the restrictions on women’s mobility and their right to study and work; and preventing Afghanistan from becoming a terrorist hotbed.
China’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Yue Xiaoyong, however, signaled some disagreements as well.
“Some of the members also emphasized the need to unfreeze the overseas assets of $7 billion to Afghanistan - the need to lift the unilateral sanction[s] by United States,” Yue told reporters on the sidelines of the event.
The U.S. froze $7 billion of Afghan central bank funds after the Taliban took control of the country in August 2021. In 2022, the Biden administration put half the money in a Switzerland-based trust account called “Fund for the Afghan People,” which a board oversees. The remaining money is locked in the U.S.
Yue said foreign nations should not impose themselves on Afghanistan.
“The international community, they are coming to help, not to impose, not to put pressures, but show respect to Afghanistan so that all sides can come to have engagement, to have dialogue,” he said.
China is the only country that has sent an ambassador to Kabul under the Taliban rule and has received a Taliban ambassador as well. Still, Beijing insists it has not recognized the Taliban government.
Special envoy
The Doha huddle also discussed the appointment of a U.N. special envoy to Afghanistan, a position the independent assessment recommends.
According to U.N. documents, the envoy will “focus on diplomacy between Afghanistan and international stakeholders and advancing intra-Afghan dialogue.”
Most members of the Security Council support the idea; China and Russia abstained from voting on it.
The Taliban oppose such an appointment, arguing that the U.N. Assistance Mission to Afghanistan, or UNAMA, already exists.
“We need to have clear consultations with the Taliban in order to have a clarification of the role of that envoy, of who can be that envoy, in order to make it attractive from the point of view of the Taliban,” the secretary-general said.
A source told VOA that delegates agreed the special envoy should be from the region and have knowledge of Islam, the religion of most Afghans.
More engagement
Despite the Taliban’s absence, the secretary-general said the conference was “extremely useful” and hoped the rulers in Kabul would join next time.
Responding to a VOA question on how the Taliban’s future participation would be possible if they insisted on recognition, Guterres suggested more engagement.
“With different levels of organizing the meetings, I think we will find easily a solution to allow for the participation of the Taliban,” he said.
Asif Durrani, Pakistan's special representative for Afghanistan, told VOA in Doha that the U.N. and the Taliban would have to try harder to ensure the de facto rulers come to the next meeting.
The “Taliban are a reality, so you have to devise ways and means to do business with them. But at the same time, they also have to take certain responsibilities,” Durrani said.
Speaking to VOA on the sidelines in Doha, Rina Amiri, U.S. special envoy for Afghan women, girls and human rights, said the demand to ensure women’s rights would stay on the table.
“I can assure you that on the issue of women’s rights and human rights, we have said it’s central and it’s nonnegotiable,” she said.
VOA U.N. Correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report.