Afghan women seek regional support for ceasefire

KABUL leaders and human rights defenders in the region to work together with them for defending shares values and achieving prosperity.

“We, the women of Afghanistan, have been advocating for peace and appealing to both sides to commit to a comprehensive ceasefire and end the killings of Afghan citizens,” the Afghan Women’s Network (AWN) said.

The women also raised their concerns over a recent spike in targeted killings, saying the only way to achieve durable peace was to ensure that any agreement envisaged equal rights for all Afghans, including women and ethnic and religious minorities.

“Marginalising and exclusion will only provoke new cycles of violence and conflict, something all of us have witnessed in our region,” AWN said in a statement.

“We want you to stand with us in achieving lasting and dignified peace in Afghanistan and the entire region. The Afghan conflict is as much a regional conflict as it is a domestic one,” the group remarked.

In recent decades, the statement added, the region had seen growing extremism and militarisation, creating unprecedented challenges to its development.

“Our region has been in turmoil for far too long. Hostilities have undermined our population’s basic human rights and liberties, most importantly, our right to live in peace,” AWN explained.

It went on to cite the June 2020 attack on the maternity hospital in Kabul, the April 2019 assaults in Sri Lanka, the December 2014 school massacre in Peshawar and the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai as some of the atrocities targeting common citizens.

“As members of civic groups, together we can be a critical force in calling for action to end violence that has been destroying the lives of all children.

“We know that if we raise our voices together, our shared experiences of suffering and injustice and love for our communities will make our voices louder and heard,” the statement continued.

“As members of civil society groups, we have a shared responsibility to hold our leaders accountable and demand an end to the suffering of our citizens.”

Afghanistan is at a crossroads and the opportunity for peace must not be frittered away for personal and political interests, the network stressed.

Many women leaders were closely involved in peace efforts and their influence would shape the process. “We urge you to hold your leaders accountable and call on them to play a positive role in ending the violence in Afghanistan.”

In its call for regional efforts to end the war, the Afghan Women’s Network was joined by Our Voices, Our Future and other groups.

“We believe in an inclusive, just and   sustainable   peace   in   which   women   are   accepted as equal   citizens of Afghanistan.”

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