Women must be part of peace talks, AIHRC says

Dr Sima Samar, Chairperson of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, has told a conference in Kabul that the national peace process must be inclusive and consultative.

Previous peace agreements have been negotiated without listening to the voices of ordinary Afghans, she said.

It is vital that women are included in any peace process, Dr Samar said, and that the progress made on human rights is not compromised.

"As long as the presence of women in peace talks is not meaningful, there will be no lasting peace," Dr Samar said.

The Commission is currently conducting the National Women, Peace and Security Inquiry and will present its findings to the public, the government and the international community.

Acting Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani also addressed the event and said that women should have an active role in the peace process.

All parties must accept that women's rights are not negotiable, Rabbani said.

President Ashraf Ghani's special envoy for regional affairs on consensus for peace, Mohammad Umer Daudzai, said that war is not the solution and that peace will come in 2019.

"All the parties admit that there needs to be a political solution for the Afghanistan problem," Daudzai said, confirming that the peace consultative meeting will be held in the March.

Date: 21 February 2019

Source: Tolo News