The highest-ranking woman in the United Nations arrived in Kabul on Tuesday at the head of a delegation promoting the rights of women and girls, a response to the recent crackdown by Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), AP reported.
Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, a former Nigerian Cabinet minister and a Muslim, was joined by Sima Bahous, executive director of UN Women, the U.N. agency promoting gender equality and women’s rights, and Assistant Secretary General for political affairs Khaled Khiari, U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said.
Haq said he could not disclose their schedule or specific meetings in Kabul for security reasons.
According to AP the U.N. officials have held a series of high-level consultations across the Gulf, Asia and Europe “to discuss the situation in Afghanistan in an effort to promote and protect women’s and girls’ rights, peaceful coexistence and sustainable development,” the spokesman said.
Members of the delegation met with leaders of the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference, the Islamic Development Bank, groups of Afghan women in Ankara, Turkey, and Islamabad, and a group of ambassadors and special envoys to Afghanistan based in Doha, the capital of Qatar, he said.
“Throughout the visits,” Haq said, “countries and partners recognized the critical role of the U.N. in finding a pathway to a lasting solution as well as the need to continue to deliver lifesaving support” and asked that efforts be intensified “to reflect the urgency of the situation.”
Hamid Karzai, the former president of Afghanistan, meanwhile met with Amina Mohammed and the accompanying delegation on Wednesday.
In this meeting, Karzai expressed his gratitude for the cooperation of the United Nations with Afghanistan, especially the humanitarian aid provided by this organization, and requested the continuation of this cooperation.
Both sides emphasized the vital importance of education and the reopening of educational centers for girls in the country and the return of women to their duties.
