The United Nations convened a conference of special envoys for Afghanistan in Doha, Qatar on 18-19th February 2024. The conference was headed by the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres. International envoys belonging to different nations around the world attended this conference. However, the Taliban*, who are the key stakeholders in Afghanistan, did not join the conference. The conference was convened to comply with the recommendations of Feridun Sinirlioglu, Special Coordinator of the United Nations in Afghanistan. Sinirlioglu recommended the donors increase economic, and developmental assistance to Afghanistan along with bolster engagement with the country.
The report submitted by Sinirlioglu also recommended the appointment of a Special UN envoy in Afghanistan to increase coordination. Forming an inclusive government in the country was also among the key agendas of this conference. The agenda of the conference was accepted by most of the member countries of the United Nations. However, Russia and China abstained from voting in favor of the appointment of a special envoy in Afghanistan. The Taliban* government in Afghanistan also rejected the idea of appointing a special envoy to Afghanistan. They held that such an appointment is made only when a country is engaged in internal conflict. However, Afghanistan, as per the Taliban*, is under no such circumstances.
Pakistan initially was in favor of appointing a Special envoy to Afghanistan. But it later voted in the favor of this appointment, citing that the envoy must be an experienced regional and Muslim diplomat. The main reason behind this stance of Pakistan could be that the Taliban government had been at loggerheads with it for quite some time. Moreover, given the conditions Pakistan has raised in the UN about the Special envoy, it seems that the country is seeking its own diplomat to be appointed in Afghanistan by the United Nations.
The United Nations rejected the Taliban’s conditions to join the conference. Antonio Guterres, the Secretary General of the United Nations, stated that he received a letter from the Taliban* in which the latter enlisted conditions to join the conference. He held that these conditions were highly unacceptable as the Taliban* wanted to be considered the only true and legitimate representatives of the country. Moreover, the Taliban* also demanded a treatment tantamount to the recognition of the Taliban government in Afghanistan.
The absence of the Taliban* from the conference rendered it ineffective as the key rationale behind convening the conference to discuss the human rights and women’s rights violations in the country. No country in the world has recognized the Taliban government in Afghanistan since the takeover of Kabul by the Taliban* in August 2021. The United Nations has also declared the recognition of the Taliban government in Afghanistan until women’s rights are ensured. Certain bans on women are considered one of the major reasons behind contention between the Taliban* and the international community.
Taliban hold that the measures to impose bans on certain activities of women are purely a domestic matter. Moreover, Zabihullah Mujahid, the chief spokesperson of the Taliban*, declared all this propaganda against the Taliban government. In his post on X, he said that Afghan women willingly wear hijab, they are not forced to do so. The international community sought to convey its concerns about the women right’s violations in Afghanistan to the Taliban* through this conference. One of the key recommendations that Sinirlioglu made was the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan. Sinirliouglu held that an inclusive government is mandatory to secure peace in the country. However, this attempt to establish an inclusive government reminds me of the appalling results of the Bonn Conference (2001).
The Bonn conference resulted in the US occupation of Afghanistan along with all the exiled warlords of the country were made part of an inclusive government established after dismissing the then Taliban government in the country. This inclusive government in the past led to the failure to establish peace and stability in Afghanistan. These warlords spoiled every attempt at peace with the Taliban*. Moreover, their criminal activities resulted in inculcating a negative sentiment among the Afghan citizens against them as well. Many of the leaders of the former inclusive government in Afghanistan were also involved in corruption. Therefore, the people of the country do not like the involvement of such people in the government as well.
Ahmad Massoud is one of the warlords who are waiting for an opportunity to gain power in Afghanistan. His involvement in the Afshar massacre, in which almost 1000 Afghani citizens – including women and children – were killed during the Afghan civil war in 1993, has earned him a negative image inside the country. However, he is still trying to reassemble all the exiled Afghan warlords and his former allies against the Taliban*. Another famous warlord, Abdul Rasul Sayyaf was also his accomplice in this massacre. Abdul Rashid Dostum, an Uzbek warlord from Afghanistan, has emerged as a significant political actor as well. Reportedly, he has vowed to fight the Taliban*. However, he has also been accused of sexual abuse in the past. Therefore, the idea of establishing an inclusive government in Afghanistan does not seem an astute step for now.
No setup against the will of the Taliban* will survive in Afghanistan. The United Nations and the international community need to take the Taliban* on board to avoid a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. The Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, has also accepted the UN needs to have clear consultation with the Taliban* and should make the appointment of a special envoy in Afghanistan attractive to them as well. On the other hand, the Taliban* should also become part of international conferences to raise their concerns and to overcome the trust deficit between them and the international community. Numerous international organizations, aid agencies, and governments have put sanctions on Afghanistan which is sparking a humanitarian crisis in the country by weakening it economically. The international community should also consider the ground realities of Afghanistan and engage the Taliban* diplomatically and economically. Otherwise, it will be the common citizens of the country who will struggle and a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan will be inevitable. The Taliban* will not be the sole responsible for this imminent humanitarian crisis in the country, given the sanctions and disengagement of the international community from the Taliban government in Afghanistan.
*-banned in Russia
Abbas Hashemite – is a political observer and research analyst for regional and global geopolitical issues. He is currently working as an independent researcher and journalist, exclusively for “New Eastern Outlook”.