Taliban Rejects Appointment Of UN Special Representative Following Doha Talks

Similarly, the Russian delegation also opted out of participating in a session with Afghan attendees in Doha.

Till now, the Islamic Republic's officials have not yet issued an official statement regarding their representative's non-engagement with Afghan participants during the Doha discussions.

Sources present in Doha disclosed that on the conference's second day, special envoys from various nations engaged in a collective meeting with figures from Afghan civil society and women's groups.

It was also reported that delegates from certain countries held separate dialogues with Afghan participants of the Doha meeting.

Nonetheless, envoys from Russia and Iran decided against joining any meeting that included Afghan representatives in Doha.

The Russian Foreign Ministry shed light on this decision, alleging that the selection of these representatives occurred "in a non-transparent way" without the Taliban's approval.

Representatives for Afghan civil society and women at the Doha conference included Shahgul Rezaie, Mahbouba Seraj, Metra Mehran, Faiz Zaland, and Lotfullah Najafizada.

The Taliban's stipulations for attending the Doha event were rebuffed, leading to the absence of the group's representatives from Qatar. A notable demand from the Taliban was their insistence on being the exclusive representatives of the Afghan populace at the meeting.

Guterres stressed that women and girls in Afghanistan should have a meaningful presence across all life's facets.

In a statement made via his X social media platform on Tuesday, the United Nations Secretary-General advocated for the inclusion of women across the spectrum, from educational environments to the highest echelons of decision-making.

Guterres pointed out the necessity for the international community to ensure that addressing the needs and rights of all Afghan citizens remains a foremost concern for the country's current leadership.

He drew attention to Afghanistan's dire economic predicament, underscoring that the UN's humanitarian aid initiative has garnered less than three percent of its essential funding.

During a United Nations-sponsored meet in Qatar, which spanned two days, Guterres engaged with special envoys from various nations to scrutinise Afghanistan's situation. He remarked that the Taliban's non-participation in the Doha discussions had no detrimental effect, asserting on the substantial utility of these meetings.

Following the Taliban's reassumption of power in August 2021, they instituted extensive prohibitions on women, including shutting down schools for girls beyond the sixth grade and forbidding their attendance at universities and places of employment. Furthermore, the regime restricted women's freedom to travel and access to public spaces like parks and restaurants.

In the ensuing period of over two years, the Taliban have indiscriminately detained and incarcerated numerous women activists and protesters, in addition to many women accused of "improper hijab.”

Bakhtar news agency has reported that the recruitment of 12th-grade graduates will commence in 11 provinces.

According to the report, the Taliban’s Ministry of Public Health has sent this letter to the public health directorates of Kapisa, Parwan, Panjshir, Maidan Wardak, Ghazni, Paktika, Logar, Khost, Badakhshan, Bamiyan and Paktia provinces.

This comes even though the Taliban has closed girls' schools beyond the sixth grade and prohibited girls from going to universities.

On the other hand, over the last two years, the Taliban’s National Examination Authority did not allow female medical students to participate in the Medical Council Exam.

Medical graduates are unable to open clinics or pursue careers in the medical field without successfully completing this exam.

It added that the total value of imports for the corresponding nine months amounted to $6 billion and 228 million.

According to the Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA), based on the statistics of the NSIA, the most exported items of Afghanistan are dried fruits, medicinal plants, minerals, and fresh fruit, which are sent to Pakistan, India, and the United Arab Emirates.

The imported items include petroleum products, oil, machinery, transportation vehicle parts, textiles, metals, and metal products. These goods were predominantly imported from Iran, Pakistan, and China.

Meanwhile, the Taliban has prohibited journalists from disseminating news regarding this matter.

On Sunday, February 18, Mullah Shirin, the Taliban's governor of Kandahar, issued an official letter instructing government department officials to refrain from capturing photographs and videos during their official and unofficial meetings.

Following this order, the Kandahar governor's office has stopped including photographs in its statements, opting to release only textual content.

A local reporter told Afghanistan International, “Today, while attempting to create a television report, we were denied permission to interview officials from various directorates.”

It seems like the Taliban wants to make the media in Afghanistan similar to how it was during their previous rule.