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UN Calls for Afghan Reconciliation Dialogue

Speaking at a UN conference held to assess the Afghan situation, UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Deborah Lyons called on the Islamic Emirate to initiate an intra-Afghan dialogue for national reconciliation.  

The UN Security Council convened a special conference on the Afghan situation on Wednesday.

The meeting was attended by the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and other members of the council as well as Mahbooba Saraj, an Afghan women's rights activist. 

“No Afghan should live in fear of a knock at their door in the night and no family should be left to wonder about the whereabouts and fate of their loved ones,” Lyons said.  

“It is in no one's interest to see a collapse of the current state in Afghanistan," she added.  

The secretary general and UN envoy Lyons both mentioned concerns over Afghan girls not attending school and the recent disappearance of Afghan women's rights activists.

According to Lyons, the Islamic Emirate has taken "some steps" to fulfill their commitments, but there is an emerging environment of intimidation, and a contraction of the media space.  

She expressed concerns over the disappearance of Tamana Zaryabi Paryani and Parawana Ibrahimkhel. “We remain extremely concerned” about the fate of missing female activists, she said. 

The UN special envoy said the total ask for assistance to Afghanistan from donors is now $8 billion. 

Talking at the conference, UN Secretary General António Guterres said that the window of opportunity is open for trust but the Islamic Emirate must earn it.

He also called for ramping up humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan  

He said that Afghanistan is "hanging by a thread," clinics are overcrowded, education and social services are facing collapse, and families are selling babies to purchase food.  

Mahbooba Saraj, an Afghan women's rights activist told the conference that “today” in Afghanistan women are literally being erased from public life.  
The majority of Afghan girls are banned from secondary schools, she said.

Following the UN security council meeting on Afghanistan, the Afghan mission at the United Nations released a statement from the charge d'affaires for Afghanistan at the UN, Naseer Ahmad Faiq, which expressed deep concern over the current humanitarian, economic and social crisis in Afghanistan. 

After the fall of the former government, more than half of the population including women, men and children are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance as they have faced with lack of food, shelter and health services, the statement said.

"The de facto authorities have not been recognized by the international community as they fail to fulfill their commitments including forming an inclusive and accountable government to provide essential services to the Afghan people and respecting rights of women and girls and other minorities," it said.

The statement said there are concerning reports from international agencies that indicate serious violations of human rights by "the Taliban" in Afghanistan including gender-based discrimination against women and girls, the detaining of journalists and human rights activists and forced disappearance of former government officials and security members.

The statement called on the Islamic Emirate to end these violations and honor their general amnesty.

According the statement, the mission is deeply concerned over the disappearance of two Afghan activists, Tamana and Parwana, who were reportedly abducted from their homes overnight by the Islamic Emirate, as well as Alia Azizi, who has been missing for more than three months. 

UN Calls for Afghan Reconciliation Dialogue

The UN Security Council convened a special conference on the Afghan situation on Wednesday.

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Speaking at a UN conference held to assess the Afghan situation, UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Deborah Lyons called on the Islamic Emirate to initiate an intra-Afghan dialogue for national reconciliation.  

The UN Security Council convened a special conference on the Afghan situation on Wednesday.

The meeting was attended by the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and other members of the council as well as Mahbooba Saraj, an Afghan women's rights activist. 

“No Afghan should live in fear of a knock at their door in the night and no family should be left to wonder about the whereabouts and fate of their loved ones,” Lyons said.  

“It is in no one's interest to see a collapse of the current state in Afghanistan," she added.  

The secretary general and UN envoy Lyons both mentioned concerns over Afghan girls not attending school and the recent disappearance of Afghan women's rights activists.

According to Lyons, the Islamic Emirate has taken "some steps" to fulfill their commitments, but there is an emerging environment of intimidation, and a contraction of the media space.  

She expressed concerns over the disappearance of Tamana Zaryabi Paryani and Parawana Ibrahimkhel. “We remain extremely concerned” about the fate of missing female activists, she said. 

The UN special envoy said the total ask for assistance to Afghanistan from donors is now $8 billion. 

Talking at the conference, UN Secretary General António Guterres said that the window of opportunity is open for trust but the Islamic Emirate must earn it.

He also called for ramping up humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan  

He said that Afghanistan is "hanging by a thread," clinics are overcrowded, education and social services are facing collapse, and families are selling babies to purchase food.  

Mahbooba Saraj, an Afghan women's rights activist told the conference that “today” in Afghanistan women are literally being erased from public life.  
The majority of Afghan girls are banned from secondary schools, she said.

Following the UN security council meeting on Afghanistan, the Afghan mission at the United Nations released a statement from the charge d'affaires for Afghanistan at the UN, Naseer Ahmad Faiq, which expressed deep concern over the current humanitarian, economic and social crisis in Afghanistan. 

After the fall of the former government, more than half of the population including women, men and children are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance as they have faced with lack of food, shelter and health services, the statement said.

"The de facto authorities have not been recognized by the international community as they fail to fulfill their commitments including forming an inclusive and accountable government to provide essential services to the Afghan people and respecting rights of women and girls and other minorities," it said.

The statement said there are concerning reports from international agencies that indicate serious violations of human rights by "the Taliban" in Afghanistan including gender-based discrimination against women and girls, the detaining of journalists and human rights activists and forced disappearance of former government officials and security members.

The statement called on the Islamic Emirate to end these violations and honor their general amnesty.

According the statement, the mission is deeply concerned over the disappearance of two Afghan activists, Tamana and Parwana, who were reportedly abducted from their homes overnight by the Islamic Emirate, as well as Alia Azizi, who has been missing for more than three months. 

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