KABUL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th February, 2021) Three members of the Afghan government's 21-member peace negotiating team, Fatima Gailani, Sharifa Zurmati Wardak and Fawzia Koofi, participated in a two-day virtual seminar on the role of women in the peace negotiations with the Taliban hosted by the Nordic Women Mediators Network (NWM), the negotiating team said on Wednesday.
The NWM is a network of women from the five Nordic countries � Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland � with professional expertise relevant to conflict mediation, peacebuilding and negotiations.
"Despite the escalation of violence in Afghanistan, peace negotiations are a good opportunity to resolve this crisis, and in this opportunity, it is necessary to discuss the ... role of women and the need for their presence in the peace process, and how to support them globally," Mette Knudsen, the Danish ambassador to Afghanistan, said at the seminar.
According to Fawzia Koofi, women are not only victims of the ongoing wars, but also the ones to lose their closest family members.
She added that women's priorities for a prosperous life include education, political, economic and social engagement, as well as access to justice and respect.
Fatima Gailani on her part noted the importance of regional and neighboring countries' support in the Afghan peace process.
Sharifa Zurmati Wardak echoed her colleagues' sentiment, saying that women's rights should be protected through the post-peace enforcement mechanisms.
The two-day event was attended by ambassadors and diplomatic representatives, and European women's rights activists.
The peace negotiations began in the Qatari capital of Doha back in September. In early December, Kabul and the Taliban announced that they had agreed on the framework of the talks, allowing for discussions to now be held on substantive issues. The talks, however, have stalled since then with both sides blaming each other for the delay.
