UN Deputy Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo to Supervise Doha Meeting

A UN source confirmed to Afghanistan International that the third Doha meeting will be held under the supervision of Rosemary DiCarlo, the UN Deputy Secretary-General.

The source added that DiCarlo will meet separately with representatives of the Taliban and Afghan civil society.

The Doha meeting, scheduled for about a week from now, will take place in Doha, Qatar's capital, with the participation of special representatives from several countries, a delegation from the Taliban, and several Afghan civil activists.

The UN's decision to send DiCarlo comes amid widespread criticism that the organisation has "overlooked" the inclusion of female representatives and the issue of women's rights at this meeting.

Critics have stated that the UN, at the request of the Taliban—who have excluded women from all areas of public life, including banning their employment and education—has sidelined women and women's rights from the Doha meeting.

However, Roza Otunbayeva, the UN Special Representative for Afghanistan, has said that women's rights will be addressed in areas such as combating drug abuse at the meeting.

Otunbayeva noted that women make up 35% of the three million drug addicts in Afghanistan, highlighting the importance of discussing this issue at the Doha meeting.

Previously, a Taliban Foreign Ministry official announced that the agenda for the Doha meeting had been shared with the group and that the discussions would focus on private sector issues, finance, banking, and combating drugs.

Meanwhile, some protestors at a demonstration in Paris called on European countries to boycott the Doha meeting.

Rosemary DiCarlo, the UN Deputy Secretary-General for Political Affairs, reportedly visited Kabul a few weeks ago and invited Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban’s Foreign Minister, to attend the Doha meeting.

The previous UN meeting in Doha on Afghanistan, attended by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, included several female representatives and Afghan civil activists.