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Daikundi holds its first-ever all-female motorcycle rally
Supporting women’s rights and the 16-day campaign to end violence against women, ten female motorcyclists recently held the first all-women’s motorcycle rally in central Daikundi province.
In keeping with this year’s campaign theme “Orange the World: Fund, Respond, Prevent, Collect!” the women all wore orange scarves around their necks as they showed their support for the cause.
The rally took place in the provincial capital of Nili, and was organized jointly by the provincial government and Oxfam.
According to local officials the aim was for the women to take a stand against customs of suppressing women and to show they are capable of riding motorcycles and in doing so breaking down social taboos attached to it.
The female bikers meanwhile welcomed the initiative and called on families to allow their daughters to join motorcycle groups.
Last month the Afghan Ministry of Women’s Affairs said that violence against women in Afghanistan has increased in the past year.
Speaking at the launch of International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and the launch of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign, the ministry said that 2,582 cases of violence against women have been reported to them in the past year.
They also said that in the past four months, 34 cases, including murders, have been reported to the ministry.
This comes after repeated calls by the Afghan government and the foreign community for women’s rights to be preserved and to be worked on.
Calls to preserve women’s rights in Afghanistan have been growing amid ongoing peace talks between the Afghan Republic and the Taliban in Doha. In line with this, research by UN Women and the Council on Foreign Relations said recently that when women participate in peace talks in a meaningful capacity, the resulting agreement is 64 percent less likely to fail and 35 percent more likely to last at least 15 years.
However, the research found that between 1990 and 2017, women made up only two percent of mediators, eight percent of negotiators, and five percent of witnesses and signatories in all major peace processes around the world.
Hundreds of former U.S. officials are calling on Washington to cancel a reported plan to relocate Afghan refugees from Qatar to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
In an open letter addressed to the U.S. State Department, more than 600 former civilian and military officials, along with around 100 organizations, urged the administration to stop the proposed transfer. The letter was sent to Marco Rubio.
The signatories argue that the Afghan nationals in question were brought to Qatar by the United States to complete legal immigration procedures after undergoing extensive security vetting. The letter states that while the individuals were cleared for resettlement in the United States, they are now being considered for relocation to Congo, a country for which they were never screened.
“Those individuals were vetted and approved for the United States, not for the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” the letter reads.
According to the report, more than 1,100 Afghan allies and their family members are currently being held at Camp As Sayliyah in Qatar under U.S. supervision. Around 800 of them have already completed all security checks and received authorization to travel to the United States. More than half are women and children, and many have remained in transit limbo for over 15 months.
The situation has drawn criticism from former officials and policy observers, who describe the proposed relocation as a betrayal of Afghan allies who supported U.S. missions and risked their lives during the war in Afghanistan. Critics also warn that the move could damage U.S. credibility with future partners.
Several members of the U.S. Congress had previously expressed opposition to the proposal, cautioning that it could significantly undermine trust in the United States among its allies.
Asif Durrani, Pakistan’s former special envoy for Afghanistan, has said that no country should interfere in Afghanistan’s internal affairs, stressing that it is up to Afghans themselves to bring about any change in their country.
In a post on X, Durrani said Afghans should be “left to their own devices” and that they would eventually “find the way out” of their challenges.
However, he warned that instability inside Afghanistan could have negative consequences for neighbouring countries, adding that Afghan leaders and their supporters should take responsibility to address such risks.
Durrani described his remarks as a simple expression of goodwill and best wishes for the Afghan people and their future.
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Uzbekistan and Japan discuss joint projects for Afghanistan’s socio-economic development
The Special Representative of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Afghanistan, Ismatulla Irgashev, has met with Tetsuya Yamada, Director General of the South Asia Department at the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), to discuss cooperation on Afghanistan-related development projects.
According to Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, both sides focused on the implementation of joint initiatives aimed at supporting the socio-economic development of Afghanistan.
During the meeting, the Japanese side praised Uzbekistan’s “pragmatic approach” toward Afghanistan, as well as the infrastructure developed in the border city of Termez.
Japan also expressed interest in utilizing the Termez facilities for future humanitarian and development projects in Afghanistan, particularly in the fields of education, healthcare, agriculture, private sector development, and counter-narcotics efforts.
Both sides emphasized that such cooperation is aimed at improving the living conditions and overall well-being of the Afghan people.
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