The UN Secretary General is hosting meetings today and tomorrow in Doha, to talk about the future of Afghanistan and what to do about the Taliban's ongoing abuse of women's rights.
Special Envoys on Afghanistan from at least 20 nations are expected to be there.
But Afghan women won’t be.
The plans sparked a storm of criticism from rights groups.
Twelve NGOs including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Global Network of Women Peacebuilders sent an open letter to the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres.
"We urge you to ensure that diverse Afghan women - including women leaders, human rights defenders, peacebuilders and civil society representatives - are at the table at the meeting of Special Envoys on Afghanistan to be convened on 1-2 May in Doha, Qatar," the letter read.
Since assuming power following the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban have cracked down on women’s rights, banning them from education and the workplace.
"Afghan women have been clear - failure to ensure their meaningful participation will render any discussions, outcomes or decisions made without them illegitimate," the letter went on to say.
Asked by RTÉ News if the Secretary General had replied to the letter, his spokesperson could not confirm if there had been any response.
"But I think what's important to keep in mind, there are different frameworks," the spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric told RTÉ News.
"This is a meeting that was called of international envoys who are dealing with Afghanistan. But I can tell you that different parts of the UN system remain in close contact, in regular contacts, with Afghan women's groups, advocacy groups, whether in Afghanistan or abroad," he said.
The Secretary General’s office has so far been unable to share the list of participating countries or details on how many of the envoys are women.
Asked previously by RTÉ News whether a room full of men discussing women’s rights in Afghanistan would be bad for optics, the UN spokesperson agreed that it would.
The absence of women is not the only controversy swirling around the Doha meeting.
'Recognition of Taliban - violation of women's rights'
Earlier this month, the UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, said that the summit could be the first "baby steps" towards recognition of the Taliban, drawing outrage from Afghan women's rights groups.
Speaking at an event at Princeton University, Ms Mohammed said that the Taliban’s desire for international recognition should be used as leverage to put pressure on them.
But she added that the international community needed to talk about engaging with the Taliban.
"We hope that we'll find those baby steps to put us back on the pathway to recognition [of the Taliban] - a principled recognition, in other words, there are conditions," Ms Mohammed said.
"That discussion has to happen," she added.
Defying the Taliban’s crackdown on dissent, Afghan women took to the streets in Kabul on Saturday to protest any move towards recognition.
"Recognition of Taliban - violation of women’s rights," the women chanted.
In their open letter to the Secretary-General, demanding the presence of Afghan women at the Doha summit, the NGOs wrote: "There can be no formal recognition of or a seat at the UN for the Taliban, and no unconditional engagement until the Taliban respect international law and face consequences for human rights violations."
The Secretary-General’s spokesperson confirmed on Friday that the Taliban had not been invited to the meeting, adding that "recognition is not an issue on the table".
"As we've said, the purpose of the meeting is to reinvigorate international engagement around common objectives for a durable way forward on Afghanistan and to reach sort of unity or commonality of message, such as human rights, particularly on the issue of women and girls, inclusive governance, countering terrorism, drug trafficking," the spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, said.
The Doha meeting comes after a Security Council resolution condemning the Taliban’s repression of women’s rights passed on Thursday – a rare moment of unanimity on the council which has been persistently deadlocked, most notably over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Taliban responded to the vote with a defence of their policies which they said were in line with their strict interpretation of Islamic law.
UN agencies were originally exempted from a ban on female aid workers but in early April, the de facto authorities announced that local Afghan women were prohibited from reporting to work at UN offices. The UN responded by requesting all staff – male and female – to work from home while they carry out an internal review of their operations, due by 4 May.
The move raised fears that the UN would be forced to pull out of Afghanistan. But UN officials said they were committed to staying.
Taliban officials said decisions on female aid workers were an "internal issue".
