The Inclusion of Women in the Future of Afghanistan

The Permanent Missions of Ireland, Indonesia, Switzerland and Qatar, in partnership with the Women’s Forum on Afghanistan, will host a high-level event on the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan.

As global leaders gather in New York during the High-Level week of the UN General Assembly, women and girls in Afghanistan are falling further from view, both inside and outside Afghanistan, while their situation continues to worsen. They remain banned from education and employment, with numerous restrictions on their movement and participation in public, political and economic life, including the latest on using their voices in public, aimed at completely silencing and erasing them from the public sphere. Promoting sustainable development and peace in Afghanistan will not succeed without the full participation of women. This high-level event provides a platform for a discussion on how the participation of Afghan women as leaders in the future of their country can be ensured.

The event will include remarks by UN Secretary-General, António Guterres and other high-level representatives. It will feature a short version of a new documentary film – The Sharp Edge of Peace – on the participation of four Afghan women leaders in the Doha talks prior to the Taliban takeover, introduced by actress Meryl Streep. The screening will be followed by an interactive panel discussion including women who participated in the intra-Afghan talks in 2020 and those currently engaged on the ground in Afghanistan. It will be moderated by former Swedish foreign minister Ms. Margot Wallström. There will also be limited opportunity for high-level interventions from the floor.