'De-facto authorities of Taliban not invited to UN Doha meeting', says spokesperson

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has singled out Afghanistan’s Taliban administration by not inviting them to a meeting that he is convening with special envoys on Afghanistan from various countries in Doha next week, a UN spokesperson has said.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said, “The Secretary-General has not extended an invitation to the de facto authorities.”

The UN last week emphasised that the meeting will not be around the possible international recognition of the Taliban administration after UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed suggested that the gathering “could 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.”

The meeting, which is scheduled for May 1 and 2, will instead be centered around reinvigorating “the international engagement around common objectives for a durable way forward on … Afghanistan,” Dujarric has said.

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Thursday unanimously condemned the Taliban administration’s ban on Afghan women working for the UN and called on leaders to “swiftly reverse” a rigid crackdown on the fundamental rights of women and girls.

The UN resolution — drafted by the United Arab Emirates and Japan — describes the ban as “unprecedented in the history of the United Nations” that asserts “the indispensable role of women in Afghan society.”

In December, the 193-member UN General Assembly approved postponing, for the second time, a decision on whether to recognize the Afghan Taliban administration by allowing them to send a United Nations ambassador to New York.

With inputs from agencies

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