A Qatar-Afghanistan Joint Labour Committee meeting was held in the Qatari capital of Doha on Wednesday, where the two sides discussed various issues including developments in the labor sector, local media reported.

Qatar’s Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Labour Sheikha of Qatar Najwa bint Abdulrahman al-Thani and Head of Labour Deployment Department at the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of Afghanistan, Mohammad Ameen Anees, co-chaired the meeting, Gulf Times newspaper reported.

The committee discussed the latest developments in the labour sector between the two countries, alongside other relevant matters outlined in the agenda, according to the newspaper.

This comes after the Islamic Emirate Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs held a meeting last week to discuss plans around the deployment of Afghan workers to foreign countries.

The meeting, chaired by Minister Abdul Manan Omari, was attended by senior IEA officials, including Amir Khan Muttaqi, the foreign minister.

According to a statement issued by the ministry on Saturday, the discussion focused on facilitating the process of sending Afghan workers abroad and creating better conditions for laborers within Afghanistan.

Sending Afghan workers to Qatar and other Gulf nations was a pledge of the previous government but was never implemented.

The IEA now seeks to revive and expand these plans amid a worsening unemployment crisis.

US President Joe Biden has extended for one more year the national emergency declared in his executive order with respect to the widespread humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and the “potential for deepening economic collapse” in the country.

On February 11, 2022, Biden by an executive order declared a national emergency to deal with the “unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States” constituted by the widespread humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and the potential for a deepening economic collapse in the country, the White House said.

“The widespread humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan — including the urgent needs of the people of Afghanistan for food security, livelihoods support, water, sanitation, health, hygiene, and shelter and settlement assistance, among other basic human needs — and the potential for a deepening economic collapse in Afghanistan continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States,” White House said in a notice to the Congress released on January 15.

“In addition, the preservation of certain property of Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB) held in the United States by United States financial institutions is of the utmost importance to addressing this national emergency and the welfare of the people of Afghanistan,” the notice said.

“Various parties, including representatives of victims of terrorism, have asserted legal claims against certain property of DAB or indicated in public court filings an intent to make such claims.  This property is blocked under Executive Order 14064.”

Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, deputy foreign minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, says the use of bombs and chemical weapons during decades of war in Afghanistan has harmed the country's environment.

Speaking at a National Climate Change Conference in Kabul on Wednesday, Stanikzai called on the international community and countries involved in Afghanistan's wars to not politicize environmental issues and to cooperate with Afghanistan.

“Those harmful bombs, devices, chemical weapons, and explosives that were used here unfortunately still have visible effects. In many of our areas, landmines are buried, and their effects are being seen in the second generation today,” said Stanekzai.

He further stated that 80 percent of Afghanistan's forests have been destroyed due to the wars and stressed that to overcome the current crisis, the country’s water resources must be managed, as Afghanistan is already facing a water shortage.

He said: “You can see that across all of Afghanistan, the water levels are dropping, and Afghanistan is facing a water shortage. If we don’t control our water, and if things continue this way, it will be detrimental to us, and a day will come when we won’t have any water to drink anywhere in Afghanistan.”

Meanwhile, Muti-ul-Haq Khalis, head of the National Environmental Protection Agency, stated at the conference that climate change is a global phenomenon, and addressing it requires joint efforts and cooperation. He called on the world to assist Afghanistan.

Deputy Minister of Economy Abdul Latif Nazari also stated: “Sanctions should be lifted, and restrictions must be removed so that institutions and organizations can cooperate more easily with our agencies, including the National Environmental Protection Agency, without facing

problems in financial transactions.”

In the meantime, the head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, Roza Otunbayeva, said that UNAMA supports efforts to combat the effects of climate change in Afghanistan.

“I promise that UNAMA will support efforts to combat the effects of climate change. UNAMA plans to hold national and international meetings this year on climate change and its impacts in Afghanistan. I also urge UN agencies and NGOs to support these efforts with technical expertise and practical knowledge,” said Otunbayeva.

Currently, Afghanistan is the sixth most vulnerable country in the world due to climate change.