/var/www/vhosts/ariananews.af/httpdocs/wp-content/themes/ariana-news/parts/post-single.php on line 153
">
Warning: Undefined array key 0 in /var/www/vhosts/ariananews.af/httpdocs/wp-content/themes/ariana-news/parts/post-single.php on line 153

Warning: Attempt to read property "cat_name" on null in /var/www/vhosts/ariananews.af/httpdocs/wp-content/themes/ariana-news/parts/post-single.php on line 153

World leaders band together for Afghan women to have a voice

Published

6 years ago

September 12, 2020

Over 100 formidable leaders from around the world have joined together as signatories to an open letter calling for meaningful participation of Afghan women in the peace process that started in Doha Saturday.

They stated that substantive involvement of women in peace talks makes agreements more likely to be attained and upheld.

Among those who signed the letter, issued by Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, are Madeleine Albright, Former United States Secretary of State; Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Arab Emirates; Laura Bush, Former First Lady of the United States; Angelina Jolie, Special Envoy of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; Hillary Rodham Clinton, Former United States Secretary of State; Ban Ki-moon, Former Secretary-General of the United Nations; and John Kerry, Former United States Secretary of State among others.

In total, 104 leaders signed the letter that called on “all relevant national, regional and international actors to pursue a peaceful, stable Afghanistan by ensuring women’s full participation in the peace process.”

They stated that after 40 years of conflict, there may finally be an opportunity for peace but that the international community has an obligation to assist with ensuring that the peace forged is durable and this opportunity is not squandered.

“As global leaders and foreign policy experts, we have seen clear proof that women’s involvement is key to establishing a lasting and sustainable peace,” the letter read.

“The substantive involvement of women in peace talks makes agreements more likely to be attained and upheld. We have seen evidence of women’s powerful influence in peace processes in recent times, from Colombia to the Philippines.

“The direct impact women’s participation has on ensuring stability makes their inclusion an international security issue, which the UN Security Council recognized when it adopted the landmark resolution on Women, Peace and Security (UNSCR 1325) twenty years ago this fall.”

The letter went on to state that the international community should prioritize women’s meaningful inclusion in order to help obtain the long-term security goals the world has been working towards for decades.

The progress made in Afghanistan since women have begun to be integrated into society was also noted and the Taliban’s ban on girls being educated was raised.

“Women went from being virtually erased under Taliban rule to becoming policewomen, teachers, public officials, mayors and entrepreneurs,” they stated.

In 2019, women accounted for 28 percent of the Afghan parliament – a proportion higher than 67 percent of countries tracked by the World Bank.

“Guaranteeing the preservation of equality, democracy, and inclusivity will promote stability and help to protect future generations from the threat of extremism. Afghanistan, the region, and the world would all be safer as a result,” their letter stated.

Outlining what needs to be done, the group of leaders stated the following:

Given the key role of women in ensuring durable peace, the following measures are necessary:

Women need to be party to the negotiations, not just an issue to be discussed.
Women must be involved throughout every step of the process.
The perspective of women and youth must be reflected in any agreement.

To ensure these goals are met, we call on the international community to do the following:

Persuade negotiators to preserve equal rights for all its citizens as guaranteed by the Afghan constitution.
Condition international aid on the preservation of the rights and liberties currently enjoyed by Afghan citizens, especially women’s rights.
Implement legitimate and established monitoring mechanisms for ensuring the maintenance of rights. Ensure these mechanisms are outlined in the peace agreement and that women are part of the development, implementation and monitoring of such mechanisms.

The full list of signatories is as below:

Karen AbuZayd, Commissioner of the UN Inquiry on Syria and Former Commissioner-General of UNRWA

María Elena Agüero, Secretary-General of the Club de Madrid
Shamshad Akhtar, Former UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Arab Emirates
Madeleine Albright, Former United States Secretary of State
Amat Al Alim Alsoswa, Yemen’s Former Minister for Human Rights, Former UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Assistant Administrator
Valerie Amos, Former UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator
Mayu Ávila, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of El Salvador
Lloyd Axworthy, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada
Ali Babacan, Former Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey
Jan Peter Balkenende, Former Prime Minister of The Netherlands
Carol Bellamy, Former Executive Director of UNICEF
Mohamed Benaissa, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Morocco
Catherine Bertini , Former Executive Director of the UN World Food Program
Carl Bildt, Former Prime Minister of Sweden
Julie Bishop, Former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Australia
Irina Bokova, Former Director-General of UNESCO
Lakhdar Brahimi, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Algeria and UN Special Envoy for Afghanistan
Gro Harlem Brundtland, Former Prime Minister of Norway
Laura Bush, Former First Lady of the United States
Margaret Chan, Former Director-General of the World Health Organization
Helen Clark, Former Prime Minister of New Zealand and Administrator of UNDP
Joe Clark, Former Prime Minister of Canada
Sean Cleary, Chief Director of the Office of the Administrator General of Namibia
Hillary Rodham Clinton, Former United States Secretary of State
Kathleen Cravero, Former UNDP Assistant Secretary-General for Conflict Prevention and Recovery
Staffan de Mistura, Former Under Secretary-General and UN Special Envoy to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria
Isabel de Saint Malo, Former Vice President of Panama
Erik Derycke, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium
Rut Diamint, Chief of Cabinet and Advisor to the Argentine Ministry of Defense
Lamberto Dini, Former Prime Minister of Italy
Paula J. Dobriansky, Former United States Under-Secretary of State for Global Affairs
Alexander Downer, Former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Australia
Mikuláš Dzurinda, Former Prime Minister of Slovakia
Jan Eliasson, Former Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden
María Fernanda Espinosa, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of National Defence of Ecuador
Christiana Figueres, Former Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
Joschka Fischer, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Vice-Chancellor of Germany
Louise Fréchette, Former Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations
Robert Gates, Former United States Secretary of Defense
Rose Gottemoeller, Former Deputy Secretary-General of NATO
Dalia Grybauskaitė, Former President of Lithuania
Rebeca Grynspan, Ibero-American Secretary-General and Former Vice President of Costa Rica
Geeta Rao Gupta, Former Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF
Stephen Hadley, Former United States National Security Advisor
Chuck Hagel, Former United States Secretary of Defense
Lord William Hague, Former Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom
Tarja Halonen, Former President of Finland
Ameerah Haq, Former UN Under-Secretary-General for the Department of Field Support
Stephen J. Harper, Former Prime Minister of Canada
Noeleen Heyzer, Former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations
John Howard, Former Prime Minister of Australia
Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Former President of Estonia
Igor Ivanov, Former Foreign Minister of Russia
Atifete Jahjaga , Former President of Kosovo
Angelina Jolie , Special Envoy of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Medhi Jomaa, Former Prime Minister of Tunisia
Ivo Josipović , Former President of Croatia
Marina Kaljurand, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia
John Kerry, Former United States Secretary of State
Rima Khalaf, Former UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCWA
Ban Ki-moon, Former Secretary-General of the United Nations
Aleksander Kwaśniewski, Former President of Poland
Rachel Kyte, Former Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All
Zlatko Lagumdžija , Former Prime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Tzipi Livni, Former Foreign Minister, Vice Prime Minister, and Minister of Justice of Israel
Jessie Rose Mabutas, Former Assistant President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development
Peter MacKay, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of National Defence of Canada
Susana Malcorra, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Argentina
Purnima Mane, Former UN Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director of UNFPA
Mara Marinaki, EEAS Principal Advisor on Gender and on the Implementation of UNSCR 1325 on Women, Peace and Security
Cindy McCain, Chair of the McCain Institute Board of Trustees
Sir Donald McKinnon, Former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of New Zealand
Monica McWilliams, Former Chief Commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and Signatory to the Northern Ireland Good Friday Peace Agreement
David Miliband, Former Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom
Laura Chinchilla Miranda, Former President of Costa Rica
Amr Moussa, Former Secretary-General of the Arab League and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt
Marwan al-Muasher, Former Minister for Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister of Jordan
Roza Otunbayeva, Former President of Kyrgyzstan
Ana Palacio, Former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Spain
Leon Panetta, Former United States Secretary of Defense
George Papandreou, Former Prime Minister of Greece
Colin L. Powell, Former United States Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Former Prime Minister of Denmark and Secretary-General of NATO
Òscar Ribas Reig, Former Prime Minister of Andorra
Condoleezza Rice, Former United States Secretary of State
Malcolm Rifkind, Former Secretary of State for Scotland, Defence Secretary, and Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom
Lord George Robertson, Former NATO Secretary-General and UK Defense Secretary
Mary Robinson, Former President of Ireland
Fatiha Serour, UN Deputy Special Representative for Somalia
Karin Sham Poo, Former Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF
Natan Sharansky, Former Deputy Prime Minister of Israel and Political Prisoner of the Soviet Union
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Former President of Liberia
Gillian Sorensen, Former UN Assistant Secretary-General for External Relations
Cassam Uteem, Former President of Mauritius
Jozias van Aartsen, Former Mayor of Amsterdam and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands
Hubert Védrine, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of France
Ann Veneman, Former Executive Director of UNICEF
Melanne Verveer, Former United States Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues
Knut Vollebæk , Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway
Alexandr “Sasha” Vondra, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Defence of the Czech Republic
Margot Wallström, Former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Former Prime Minister of Spain
Miomir Žužul, Former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Croatia

International Sports

AFC Champions League Elite draw nears as Al-Nassr seeded above Al-Hilal

Published

15 minutes ago

August 13, 2026

Ariana News

The stage is set for the draw for the 2026-27 AFC Champions League Elite, with Saudi Arabian giants Al-Nassr seeded one tier above rivals Al-Hilal ahead of Tuesday’s ceremony in Kuala Lumpur.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has confirmed the draw mechanism for the expanded league phase, which will feature 32 clubs divided equally between the West and East regions.

In each region, 16 teams will be split into four pots of four. Every club will play eight matches against eight different opponents, with four games at home and four away. Clubs will not face teams from their own national association during the league phase.

Al-Nassr, returning to the competition after missing last season’s edition, have been placed in Pot 2 alongside Uzbekistan’s Neftchi, Iraq’s Air Force Club and UAE side Shabab Al-Ahli.

Al-Hilal, one of the most successful clubs in Asian football, are in Pot 3 alongside Qatar’s Al-Gharafa, Iran’s Tractor and UAE club Al-Wasl.

Defending champions Al-Ahli headline Pot 1, alongside Al-Ain of the UAE, Qatar’s Al-Sadd and Iran’s Esteghlal.

Pot 4 consists of Saudi Arabia’s Al-Qadsiah and Al-Ittihad, Qatar’s Al-Shamal and Uzbekistan’s Pakhtakor.

The draw will use a fixed grid rather than individually selecting eight opponents for each club. Teams will be placed into four columns, with the position determining their home and away opponents.

The AFC has also introduced country-protection measures to ensure clubs from the same national association are not placed in positions that would result in them meeting during the league phase.

The East Region will follow the same format, with clubs including Kashima Antlers, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, Buriram United, Shanghai Port, Vissel Kobe and Pohang Steelers among the participants.

The top eight teams from each region will advance to the Round of 16, which is scheduled to take place from March 1 to 17, 2027.

The competition will then move to Saudi Arabia for a centralised final stage, with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final scheduled from April 23 to May 1, 2027.

Al-Ahli will begin their title defence seeking to make history by becoming the first club to win the revamped AFC Champions League Elite three times in succession.

The draw takes place on Tuesday, August 18, at AFC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, with the outcome set to determine the first major matchups of the new Asian club season.

Fan in Afghanistan can meanwhile tune in on Tuesday, August 18, at 12.30pm Kabul time to watch the draw live and exclusively on Ariana Television.

Latest News

Mujahid rejects UN sanctions monitoring team’s report on foreign militant groups in Afghanistan

Regarding the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Mujahid said the group operates in Pakistan, while claiming that al-Qaeda is not present in the region and “does not exist at all” in Afghanistan.

Published

24 minutes ago

August 13, 2026

Ariana News

Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesperson for the Islamic Emirate, has rejected a report by the United Nations Security Council’s Sanctions Monitoring Team concerning the presence and activities of foreign groups in Afghanistan.

In a message to Ariana News, Mujahid said Afghanistan is not hosting any foreign groups and that the groups named in the report have no connection with Afghanistan.

Regarding the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Mujahid said the group operates in Pakistan, while claiming that al-Qaeda is not present in the region and “does not exist at all” in Afghanistan.

Mujahid also stressed that the East Turkestan Islamic Movement is not permitted to operate in Afghanistan and cannot conduct activities in the country.

Commenting on Daesh, the Islamic Emirate spokesperson said the group is actively fighting against the Islamic Emirate and therefore claims about its presence and activities in Afghanistan are incorrect.

Mujahid further said he believes the allegations are being made by intelligence circles seeking to destabilise the region. He also criticised the UN Security Council’s Sanctions Monitoring Team for relying on what he described as such information.

The reaction came after; the UN Security Council’s Sanctions Monitoring Team has expressed concern in its report over security threats arising from the activities of militant groups in Afghanistan and the wider region.

Latest News

Afghanistan’s future depends on inclusive progress and sustained international engagement: UNAMA

Published

2 hours ago

August 13, 2026

Ariana News

Five years after the Islamic Emirate returned to power, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said on Thursday that improved security has brought some benefits to Afghans but warns that major challenges continue to hinder the country’s long-term stability and international reintegration.

In a statement, UNAMA said the decline in armed conflict has created greater opportunities for recovery, development and regional economic cooperation. It also pointed to the ban on opium poppy cultivation as one of the positive steps taken in recent years.

However, the UN said severe restrictions on women and girls, along with ongoing concerns over terrorism, remain major obstacles to Afghanistan’s progress toward lasting peace and closer relations with the international community.

“The last five years have shown that Afghans deeply value peace and stability after decades of war,” said Georgette Gagnon, UNAMA’s Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Officer-in-Charge.

“But sustainable peace and prosperity require more than just an absence of conflict. Afghanistan’s future depends on building a society in which the rights and potential of all Afghans are realised and institutions are responsive and accountable,” she said.

Since 2021, the United Nations has continued to engage with the de facto authorities while providing humanitarian assistance, supporting basic services and addressing political and human rights issues.

UNAMA said this engagement has helped maintain a degree of stability and provided a possible pathway for Afghanistan’s gradual reintegration into the international community, based on respect for human rights and the inclusion of all Afghans.

The UN mission called on the IEA to lift restrictions on women and girls and allow them to participate fully in education, employment and public life. It also urged greater protection of fundamental rights and freedoms and action to address international concerns over security and terrorism.

UNAMA warned that restrictions on women and girls are imposing serious social and economic costs on Afghanistan and causing both immediate and long-term harm to the population.

The restrictions have also become a major barrier to wider international engagement and investment. UNAMA said limits on civic space, freedom of expression and the work of female humanitarian and UN personnel further reduce Afghanistan’s ability to benefit from international support.

Meanwhile, terrorism-related concerns continue to complicate Afghanistan’s relations with neighbouring countries and the wider international community. Although engagement with regional countries has created some economic opportunities, the UN said broader international cooperation is needed to address risks threatening stability in Afghanistan and the region.

UNAMA urged the international community to maintain principled and practical engagement with Afghanistan and to support the aspirations of its people.

The UN mission said a comprehensive approach focused on inclusion, human rights, security and economic development would be essential for Afghanistan to achieve lasting stability and gradually reintegrate into the international community.