BELLAGIO, Italy, June 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Global leaders
gathered at The Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Center in
Italy and issued an urgent letter
to the UN Secretary-General expressing outrage that Afghan women
are excluded from the upcoming UN-convened meeting of Special
Envoys and the UN Special Representative on Afghanistan to take place next week in
Doha, Qatar.
Signatories include:
- Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu, President of the Republic of Kosovo
- Hillary Clinton, 67th
United States Secretary of
State
- Former Presidents and Prime Ministers of Australia, Finland, Lithuania, New
Zealand
The letter states:
"As the international community engages with the Taliban, Afghan
women must be actively included and central in discussions. Their
exclusion is inconsistent with the UN Charter, UN Security Council
Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security, and nine subsequent,
related resolutions, and conventions including the Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
(CEDAW). Furthermore, it contradicts the international community's
stance on Afghan women's rights, and undermines the credibility and
effectiveness of the Doha
gathering.
We agree that it is urgent to alleviate the suffering of the
Afghan people. We support efforts by the UN and other international
organizations to distribute food and other necessities. That said,
the status and rights of women are fundamentally relevant to all
discussions. We must not open a pathway for the Taliban to gain
broader legitimacy, including for its oppressive treatment of
women. Allowing the Taliban to dictate the terms of the
Doha dialogue legitimizes their
draconian abuses, which amount to gender apartheid.
This is a decisive moment for the UN and the international
community to demonstrate unwavering commitment to Afghan women and
girls by insisting that Afghan women are at the table."
The letter was signed by members of the Global Women Leaders
Network convened by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and
Security and The Rockefeller Foundation:
Shaharzad Akbar, Executive Director of
Rawadari and Former Chairperson, Afghanistan Independent Human
Rights Commission
Hillary Clinton, 67th
United States Secretary of
State
Helen Clark, Former Prime
Minister, New Zealand
Dalia Grybauskaité, Former President, Lithuania
Julia Gillard, Former Prime
Minister, Australia
María Fernanda Espinosa,
Former President of the United Nations General Assembly
Patricia Espinosa, Former
Executive Secretary, UNFCCC and Former Foreign Minister of
Mexico
Sanna Marin, Former Prime
Minister, Finland
Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu, President, the Republic of Kosovo
Monica McWilliams, Former
Member of the Northern Ireland Legislative Assembly
Melanne Verveer, Executive
Director, Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security
Carla Koppell, Vice Dean,
Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign
Service
About Global Women Leaders Network
The Global Women
Leaders Network includes former and current heads of state,
ministers, and high-level government and private sector
representatives. Together, they form a united force to advance
gender equality and address the world's most pressing challenges.
The Network was first convened in 2022 by The Rockefeller
Foundation and Georgetown
University's Institute for Women, Peace and Security
(GIWPS) and is chaired by Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton and Ambassador
Melanne Verveer.
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SOURCE The Rockefeller Foundation