A group of women and civil society activists gathered on Thursday in the western province of Herat to criticize the ongoing peace talks between the US and the Taliban in Doha for not including Afghans, particularly women.
Protesters said they want a greater role in the process in order to make sure their rights are preserved when it comes to a peace deal.
The US-Taliban negotiations in Doha restarted earlier this month but they were paused for consultations, according to US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who visited Kabul on Wednesday, December 18.
The women said they are worried about the decisions being made behind closed doors in Doha and that details of the negotiations should be shared with the people of Afghanistan.
“The participants of this [gathering] discussed the peace process as well as their concerns and demands from the Afghan government, the Taliban and the international community,” an activist Muhammad Jawed Wardak said.
“The ongoing peace talks between the Taliban and the US in Doha are vague and it is concerning for educated youths in Afghanistan,” said Abdullah Ansari, an activist in Herat.
Other participants of the event stressed the need for an inclusive peace process in Afghanistan.
“I hope Afghan women should be involved in the peace talks,” another activist Sideqa Nazari said. “Over the past two decades, [Afghan] women have sacrificed a lot to make the current achievements and they do not want to go back. ”
“Women should have a role in the peace process. Unfortunately, women have been marginalized from all important issues; therefore, I am not optimistic about the future of the process,” said Dil Jan Haidari, a women activist in Herat.
This comes as the US envoy Khalilzad during a recent Kabul visit held talks with Afghan leaders and said the peace process is entering a sensitive stage.
