INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Isolation is not the solution, and the international community must continue to engage to build trust for the benefit of the Afghan people,
UN envoy Roza Otunbayeva told the Security Council on Thursday.&Some say that engagement has not worked because these decisions keep coming
despite international condemnation,& Otunbayeva said
&But pressure and condemnation do not seem to be working, and if pursued without forward-leaning, principled engagement, it will lead to
Isolation is not the solution, and we must continue to engage to build trust for the benefit of the Afghan people
We must be both patient and pragmatic, while also strong and resolute in our principles.&She said that the Islamic Emirate has continued to
pursue their vision of an Islamic system and their interpretation of Afghan culture, which continues to be characterized by unprecedented
restrictions on women and on girls.She noted that as we are now approaching nearly twelve-hundred days without girls having access to formal
education beyond the sixth grade, with women and girls facing a progressive erasure from almost all walks of life. US envoy Linda
Thomas-Greenfield said that IEA&s new restrictions targeting women&s medical training denies logic and could represent a death sentence for
Afghan women and girls in dire need of potentially lifesaving medical treatment.&It will have an impact on every mother, every unborn infant
& boys and girls & and on the future of Afghanistan,& she said.The US diplomat said that Afghan experts, particularly women, must be
meaningfully included throughout the Doha Process and its working groups
&We cannot allow the Taliban (IEA) to dictate the terms of these meetings or to exclude Afghan experts,& she said.Addressing the Afghan
women, she said: &We will endeavor to match your resolve by developing creative solutions and concrete initiatives that will provide
opportunities for education and employment, while we use all the tools at the Council&s disposal to push the Taliban (IEA) to rescind its
discriminatory decrees.&Russian envoy Vassily Nebenzia expressed concern about the ongoing security risks emanating from the persistent
terrorist activity of Daesh.He said that the Islamic Emirate is making efforts against the group, but they can hardly be described as
sufficient to definitely eradicate terrorism.&We see that the fighters are enhancing their presence in the country and they are deliberately
escalating the situation there by recruiting new fighters, including foreign terrorist fighters, and carrying out new terrorist attacks
targeting representatives of religious and ethnic minorities, including women and children,& he said.&Given the amount of weaponry left in
the country by the Western military, the threat of these weapons falling into the hands of fighters and subsequently spreading throughout
the region and beyond is becoming more and more likely,& he warned.Chinese envoy Fu Cong said that the international community expects the
Islamic Emirate to govern moderately, build an inclusive government, and protect the basic rights and interests of all people.&We hope that
Afghanistan will heed the reasonable concerns of the international community and protect women&s rights to education, employment, and public
&At the same time, we should realize that the issue of women&s rights is not the entire problem of Afghanistan, nor is it the main source of
It is necessary to support the development and reconstruction of Afghanistan, eliminate the root causes of instability, and create favorable
conditions for protecting the rights and interests of all people, including women.&The post Afghanistan&s isolation is not the solution, we
must be patient and pragmatic: UN envoy first appeared on Ariana News.
