KABUL (Pajhwok): Some Wolesi Jirga members on Wednesday criticized a low presence of women in the Moscow summit, urging greater say of the gender in peace meetings.
The Moscow summit, aimed at accelerating the Afghan Peace process, is scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday March 18.
Another international summit on the Afghan peace process is expected in Ankara, Turkey in April this year. The two summits will be attended by representatives from regional countries and the world, Afghan government, political parties and the Taliban.
A 10-member Taliban delegation and a 16-member government delegation consisting of some politicians and government officials led by Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR) will reportedly attend the Moscow summit.
There is only one woman, HabibiaSurabi, a member of the government negotiating team, in this delegation.
Lawmaker from northern Jawzjan province, Halima SadafKarimi in today’s session of the lower house, said Afghan women constituted half of the population of Afghanistan and have the ability to do anything and they should not be ignored in national process. The presence of women must be strong so that they could defend their rights, the MP said.
She added the Afghan government delegation to Moscow summit should have more female members to decide the future of Afghan women.
Karimi said ignoring women in such important and crucial national processes would destroy the achievements of women in the past two decades.
Lawmaker from Kabul, Shinkai Karokhel in the WJ session said they were not against the Moscow summit; but why women’s presence was low in the summit while women want to represent themselves.
She urged the organizers of peace meetings for Afghanistan to personally invite Afghan women to such meetings, arguing that Afghan men do not provide women with their share in such gatherings.
Karokhel also called for a strong presence of women in Turkey summit, saying that Russia must realize its mistake and should not repeat such a mistake of ignoring Afghan women.
Deputy speaker of the Wolesi Jirga, JavedJaihoon chairing today’s session said ignoring women in such significant national processes would deprive half of Afghan population of access to their rights.
Jaihoon also urged the organizers of peace summits on Afghanistan to not ignore Afghan women and hoped Moscow and Turkey summits would bring peace to Afghanistan.
US proposal will not bring peace to Afghanistan
Some lawmakers said the US-proposed plan had problems and would not help establish peace in Afghanistan.
Lawmaker from central Daikunid province, Ali Akbar Jamshedi said Afghans would not achieve lasting peace by implementing the US proposal because the share given to the Taliban was not acceptable to everyone.
Jamshedi also called on the Afghan government officials and politicians to reach consensus in such sensitive situations, put differences aside and work on a plan that would ensure lasting peace in the country so that all tribes and sections of the Afghan society enjoy their rights.
Hr/ma
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