Qatar stresses commitment to concerted international efforts to empower Afghan people to build peaceful state
This came in the State of Qatar's statement at the United Nations General Assembly's plenary meeting in New York on agenda item 'The Situation in Afghanistan', delivered by Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations HE Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani.
She stressed that the State of Qatar's efforts to support Afghanistan in facing the significant challenges along its path to achieving peace and stability continue, noting that these efforts began with the establishment of the Doha peace process for Afghanistan, in addition to hosting a series of dialogues as part of an inclusive political process involving all segments of Afghan society, culminating in the 2020 peace agreement between the United States and the Taliban.
She also highlighted the State of Qatar's role in supporting and facilitating dialogue between the United Nations, concerned countries, and the Afghan caretaker government, including hosting the UN-led Doha Process, noting that these efforts aim to adopt a comprehensive approach to facilitate more coherent and organized international engagement, helping to create the conditions necessary for Afghanistan to achieve internal peace, foster good neighborly relations, reintegrate into the international community, and meet its global obligations.
She noted that, to achieve these goals on the ground, the Doha Process has led to the formation of specialized working groups based on priority areas identified in the independent assessment of Afghanistan.
She referred to the third meeting of the counter-narcotics working group held in Doha recently, which aimed to review and enhance cooperation to combat drugs and their regional and global impacts as well as the second meeting of the private sector working group, held on July 1, which aimed to support this vital sector's engagement in the economy.
She pointed to the continuing multifaceted challenges, which require international support and an integrated approach involving relevant political, humanitarian, and development actors in order to build and sustain peace, adding that this includes strengthening international assistance in line with humanitarian principles, addressing natural disasters such as droughts and floods, creating opportunities for economic recovery and sustainable development, and improving access to education for all.
She also underscored the State of Qatar's efforts, in cooperation with UN entities, in providing humanitarian support to the Afghan people, including food assistance, support for basic healthcare programs, improving Afghan children's access to education, offering scholarships, supporting economic empowerment programs for Afghan women to increase their resilience to crises, and programs to empower Afghan youth-both male and female.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Jazeera
40 minutes ago
- Al Jazeera
LIVE: UN says Israeli forces killed hundreds seeking aid in Gaza
Sources at Gaza hospitals say 17 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli raids on the Strip since dawn. At least 10 Palestinians were killed on Friday while waiting for rations in Gaza, adding to nearly 800 similar deaths in the last six weeks, according to the United Nations, with Israel's army saying it issued new instructions to troops following repeated reports of fatalities.
Al Jazeera
6 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Israeli settlers beat to death US citizen in West Bank, family says
Israeli settlers have beaten to death a United States citizen in the occupied West Bank, the victim's family members and rights groups have said. Settlers attacked and killed Sayfollah Musallet – who was in his early 20s – in the town of Sinjil, north of Ramallah, on Friday, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Musallet, also known as Saif al-Din Musalat, had travelled from his home in Florida to visit family in Palestine, his cousin Fatmah Muhammad said in a social media post. Another Palestinian, identified by the Health Ministry as Mohammed Shalabi, was fatally shot by settlers during the attack. Rights advocates have documented repeated instances where Israeli settlers in the West Bank ransack Palestinian neighbourhoods and towns, burning homes and vehicles in attacks sometimes described as pogroms. The Israeli military often protects the settlers during their rampages and has shot Palestinians who show any resistance. The United Nations and other prominent human rights organisations consider the Israeli settlements in the West Bank violations of international law, as part of a broader strategy to displace Palestinians. While some Western countries like France and Australia have imposed sanctions on violent settlers, attacks have increased since the outbreak of Israel's war in Gaza in October 2023. When Donald Trump took office earlier this year, his administration revoked sanctions on settlers imposed by his predecessor, Joe Biden. Israeli forces have killed at least nine US citizens since 2022, including veteran Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh. But none of the incidents have resulted in criminal charges. The US provides billions of dollars to Israel every year. Advocates have accused successive US administrations of failing to protect American citizens from Israeli violence in the Middle East. On Friday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called on Washington to ensure accountability for the killing of Musallet. 'Every other murder of an American citizen has gone unpunished by the American government, which is why the Israeli government keeps wantonly killing American Palestinians and, of course, other Palestinians,' CAIR deputy director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said in a statement. He then pointed out that Trump has repeatedly promised to prioritise American interests, as typified by his campaign slogan 'America First'. 'If President Trump will not even put America first when Israel murders American citizens, then this is truly an Israel First administration,' Mitchell said. The Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) also called for action from the US administration, noting that settlers are 'lynching Palestinians more frequently – with full support from Israel's army and government'. 'The US government has a legal and moral obligation to stop Israel's racist violence against Palestinians. Instead, it's still backing and funding it,' the group said in a statement. The US Department of State did not respond to Al Jazeera's request for comment about the killing of Musallet. The Palestinian group Hamas condemned the murder of Musallet, describing it as 'barbaric', and called on Palestinians across the West Bank to rise up to 'confront the settlers and their terrorist attacks'. Israel said it was 'investigating' what happened in Sinjil, claiming that the violence started when Palestinians threw rocks at an Israeli vehicle. 'Shortly thereafter, violent clashes developed in the area between Palestinians and Israeli civilians, which included the destruction of Palestinian property, arson, physical confrontations, and stone-throwing,' the Israeli military said in a statement. Israeli investigations often lead to no charges or meaningful accountability for the abuses of Israeli officers and settlers. As settler and military violence intensifies in the West Bank, Israel has killed at least 57,762 Palestinians in Gaza in a campaign that rights groups have described as a genocide.
Al Jazeera
12 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Haiti death toll hits nearly 5,000 in nine months as gang violence spreads
The United Nations has appealed to the international community to bolster its support for Haiti after a report revealed that gang violence has claimed 4,864 lives from October to June. More than 20 percent of those deaths unfolded in the departments of Centre and Artibonite, indicating that intense violence is spilling into the areas surrounding the capital, Port-au-Prince. In a report released on Friday, the UN explained that the growing presence of gangs like Gran Grif in those areas appears to be part of a broader strategy to control key routes connecting the capital to Haiti's north and its border with the Dominican Republic. 'This expansion of gang territorial control poses a major risk of spreading violence and increasing transnational trafficking in arms and people,' the report said. Among its recommendations was for the international community to better police the sale of firearms to Haiti and to continue to offer support for a Kenya-led security mission aimed at strengthening Haiti's local law enforcement. In a statement, Ulrika Richardson, the UN's resident coordinator in Haiti, explained that propping up the country's beleaguered police force is key to restoring security. 'Human rights abuses outside Port-au-Prince are intensifying in areas of the country where the presence of the State is extremely limited,' she said. 'The international community must strengthen its support to the authorities, who bear the primary responsibility for protecting the Haitian population.' The report indicates that the violence in the regions surrounding Port-au-Prince took a turn for the worse in October, when a massacre was carried out in the town of Pont Sonde in the Artibonite department. The Gran Grif gang had set up a checkpoint at a crossroads there, but local vigilante groups were encouraging residents to bypass it, according to the UN. In an apparent act of retaliation, the gang launched an attack on Pont Sonde. The UN describes gang members as firing 'indiscriminately at houses' along the road to the checkpoint, killing at least 100 people and wounding 16. They also set 45 houses and 34 vehicles on fire. The chaos forced more than 6,270 people to flee Pont Sonde for their safety, contributing to an already dire crisis of internal displacement. The UN notes that, as of June, more than 92,300 people were displaced from the Artibonite department, and 147,000 from Centre — a 118-percent increase over that department's statistics from December. Overall, nearly 1.3 million people have been displaced throughout the country. The massacre at Pont Sondé prompted a backlash, with security forces briefly surging to the area. But that presence was not sustained, and Gran Grif has begun to reassert its control in recent months. Meanwhile, the report documents a wave of reprisal killings, as vigilante groups answered the gang's actions with violence of their own. Around December 11, for instance, the UN noted that the gangs killed more than 70 people near the town of Petite-Riviere de l'Artibonite, and vigilante groups killed 67 people, many of them assumed to be relatives or romantic partners of local gang members. Police units are also accused of committing 17 extrajudicial killings in that wave of violence, as they targeted suspected gang collaborators. The UN reports that new massacres have unfolded in the months since. In the Centre department, a border region where gangs operate trafficking networks, similar acts of retaliation have been reported as the gangs and vigilante groups clash for control of the roads. One instance the UN chronicles from March involved the police interception of a minibus driving from the city of Gonaives to Port-au-Prince. Officers allegedly found three firearms and 10,488 cartridges inside the bus, a fact which sparked concern and uproar among residents nearby. 'Enraged, members of the local population who witnessed the scene lynched to death, using stones, sticks, and machetes, two individuals: the driver and another man present in the vehicle,' the report said. Haiti has been grappling with an intense period of gang violence since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July 2021. Criminal networks have used the resulting power vacuum to expand their presence and power, seizing control of as much as 90 percent of the capital. A transitional government council, meanwhile, has struggled to re-establish order amid controversies, tensions and leadership turnover. The council, however, has said it plans to hold its first presidential election in nearly a decade in 2026. Meanwhile, Volker Turk, the UN high commissioner for human rights, warned that civilians will continue to suffer as the cycle of violence continues. 'Caught in the middle of this unending horror story are the Haitian people, who are at the mercy of horrific violence by gangs and exposed to human rights violations from the security forces and abuses by the so-called 'self-defence' groups,' he said.
