The State Ministry for Peace announces a three-stage guideline to reach peace

The deputy of the ministry says the first stage is aligning the conventions and meetings, the second stage for both the government and Taliban, is recognizing their priorities, and the third stage is monitoring the implementation of the agreement terms. However, the head of the Afghan Civil Society says that the government should agree on a ceasefire first because reaching a conclusion without a ceasefire is very difficult.

In this consultation, the convention of the civil associations, the approaches on how they can enhance the peace process is being discussed. But more importantly, the State Ministry for Peace presents a three-stage guideline concerning pre, middle, and post peace negotiation affairs.

Prior to the agreement, the aim is to keep the negotiations continued. During the negotiations, the identification of the priorities is necessary for both parties; and after the agreement, monitoring its implementation is of great importance.

“Before the agreement is made, we try to effectively mobilize and align any party that could potentially influence the peace process, such as the civil society and the regional and international community. During the negotiations, we want to recognize discrepancies between the Taliban and the government and discuss them to establish mutually acceptable solutions. After the peace agreement has been endorsed, we want to closely regulate to supervise it and make sure the terms are legitimately adapted”, says Ghulam Yahya Abbasi, Deputy of the State Ministry for Peace.

In the Civil Society Association’s perspective, reaching to a ceasefire is vital, since it can tremendously ease the negotiation process.

Recently, there have been rumors about formation of a national assembly that would include all tribal groups of Afghanistan, university professors, political parties and civil society. The result of which could be the emersion of a strategic and long term agenda for peace.