The event kicked off Sunday, November 16, in Dubai, the United Arabic Emirates, and lasted for six days.
A group of over 50 Afghan women leaders attended the gathering to discuss strategy for peace, demands for ceasefire and their role in the peace process.
This event was organized by Afghanistan Mechanism for Inclusive Peace (AMIP) and Afghan Women’s Network (AWN).
According to a joint Declaration by the participants, Afghan women leaders all agreed upon a set of “common and shared” positions in the gathering they called a “historic” event.
“We, the women of Afghanistan, all stand behind and deliver our message with one voice,” said the Declaration. “We also articulate a set of roles that women should play in the peace process.”
“The Afghan Women Leaders Summit recognized that peace is not just the absence of war,” read the Declaration. “Peace entails freedom from all forms of violence and coercion, respect for human dignity, justice, human rights and equality for women and all citizens. It also entails economic and social development and the ability to live in harmony,” it added.
One of the main reasons behind this gathering was said to be a continued high level of violence in the south-Asian country.
“Since the start of peace negotiations, we note a high rise in the number of civilian casualties including women and children,” read the Declaration citing UNAMA’s report. “Women activists, civil society and journalists are subjected to targeted killing.”
These Afghan women say that they support the peace negotiations which leads to brining the longest-running war of the country to an end, but they are “deeply concerned” that women would become the “price to be paid for peace.”
“The Afghan Women Leaders Summit” was held amid peace efforts going on between the Afghan government and the Taliban negotiators in the Qatari capital of Doha.
These negotiators have been meeting since September 12, but are still working out on procedural rules needed for the peace negotiations.
There are reports, however, claiming the negotiators are approaching to agree upon the procedures which is then followed by discussions about the agenda of the talks.
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