New York (Union)
Her Excellency Noura Al Kaabi, Minister of State, and Her Excellency Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh, Assistant Minister and Special Envoy to the United Nations and the European Union, met with His Excellency Baron Tariq Ahmed, Minister of State for the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the United Nations in the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and Ambassador Barbara Woodward, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations, on the sidelines of the Commission on the Status of Women.
They discussed the importance of continuing cooperation to ensure women and girls access to education, especially in Afghanistan, and touched on many regional issues, as well as the efforts of the initiative to prevent sexual violence in conflict situations, the country’s mission said in a tweet on Twitter.
Yesterday, the UAE warned of the deteriorating situation of women and girls in Afghanistan, pointing to the Taliban’s decision to deprive girls of university education, and to impose restrictions on Afghan women’s work with international and local non-governmental organizations since last December. The UAE said, in a statement before a session of the UN Security Council on the situation in Afghanistan, delivered by Her Excellency Ambassador Lana Zaki Nusseibeh, the country’s permanent representative to the United Nations: “We strongly condemned these decisions at the time and we condemn them now.”
Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh referred to the systematic deprivation of women and girls in Afghanistan of their basic human rights simply because they are women and girls, adding: “We repeat here that these decisions have nothing to do with Islam or Afghan culture and increase the isolation of the Afghan state on the international scene.”
She explained that during the past nineteen months since the Taliban took power, the hope for a prosperous, secure and stable future for Afghanistan has been questioned.
And she continued: “Since our meeting last December, the members of the Security Council and the entire international community have been striving to determine the best ways to confront this deterioration in Afghan society, and to this end, we are studying the renewal of the mandate of the United Nations Support Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), which is scheduled It ends in a little more than a week from now.”
Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh stated that it is clear that everyone supports UNAMA and its active and comprehensive work, defined in accordance with Security Council Resolution 2626, adding that this allows the mission to work with partners on the ground not only to alleviate suffering, but also to improve the lives of the Afghan people.
And she hinted that there is no doubt that the mission is doing the best it can in light of a very challenging security and political environment.
And she noted that it cannot be denied that the situation in general in Afghanistan is deteriorating, and there is no significant change in terms of the expectations set by the Security Council regarding human rights, inclusive governance and combating terrorism, as the latest report of the United Nations General Security indicates an increase in humanitarian needs, a shrinking political space, and the continued presence of foreign terrorists. .
And she stressed the responsibility of the Security Council to ensure that the international approach supports a more prosperous and self-sufficient Afghanistan, so that it does not pose a threat to its people, neighboring countries or others.
“In light of this, our support for UNAMA must be unwavering, and it must remain a basis for Security Council engagement in Afghanistan,” she said.
She stressed that on International Women’s Day, there is no better time to express solidarity with Afghan women, but more must be done for them, stressing the need for a strategic reassessment of the way forward. She added, “The Security Council should reconsider and launch a more strategic review of international engagement in Afghanistan.”
She stated that the aim of that review was to reach an integrated and unified international approach, which was clearly lacking at the moment.
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