UN-led Doha meeting with Taliban sparks outcry over women's rights

UNITED NATIONS — Afghanistan's Taliban government is due to send officials to Qatar next weekend to meet top UN officials and envoys from up to 25 countries for a two-day gathering that rights groups have criticised for not including Afghan women.

It will be the third such UN-led meeting in Doha, but the first attended by the Taliban, which has not been internationally recognised since seizing power in August 2021 as US-led forces withdrew after 20 years of war.

The UN has been trying to find a unified international approach to dealing with the Taliban, who have cracked down on women's rights since returning to power.

"Excluding women risks legitimising the Taliban's abuses and triggering irreparable harm to the UN's credibility as an advocate for women's rights and women's meaningful participation," Tirana Hassan, executive director at Human Rights Watch, said of the third planned Doha meeting.

UN political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo, UN special envoy on Afghanistan Roza Otunbayeva and envoys from various countries are due to meet separately with Afghan civil society groups after meeting with the Taliban, the UN has said.

The Doha meetings are "part of a process and not a one-off" and women and civil society continue to be part of it, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Sunday.

"It also aims to encourage the de facto authorities to engage with the international community through a coordinated and structured approach for the benefit of the Afghan people," Dujarric said. "Human rights and the rights of women and girls will feature prominently in all the discussions, certainly from the part of the UN"

'Insufficient' trust

Since the Taliban returned to power, most girls have been barred from high school and women