The Permanent Mission of Qatar to the United Nations, in co-operation with the missions of Canada and the United Kingdom, organised an expanded meeting for Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Amina Mohammed with the permanent delegates and representatives of the permanent missions of the countries members of the Group of Friends of Afghanistan and the Group of Friends of Women in Afghanistan to provide a briefing on her last visit to Afghanistan.
HE the Permanent Representative of Qatar to the United Nations Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif al-Thani opened the meeting that was held at the headquarters of the Permanent Mission of Qatar to the United Nations in New York by stressing the significance of the meeting in regards to the participants, the timing, and the critical situation that Afghanistan is going through, especially after Taliban's latest decisions targeting women, in addition to the poor security and humanitarian situation, especially during winter.
HE Sheikha Alya praised the visit of Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations to Afghanistan, describing it as historic and courageous, and thanked her for her visit to Qatar for consultation and co-ordination. HE Sheikha Alya commended the level and spirit of partnership between Qatar and the United Nations in the Afghanistan file, in addition to other broad and distinguished strategic partnerships in humanitarian, developmental, peace, security, and human rights fields. She considered that the situation in Afghanistan represents a tough test for the international community, saying that they should never lose hope, especially in light of the momentum created by the visit of the Deputy Secretary-General.
HE Sheikha Alya called for not abandoning Afghanistan, especially women, girls, children, and other marginalised and vulnerable groups, stressing the need to put a unified comprehensive strategic vision by the international community regarding the situation in Afghanistan. She reiterated Qatar's commitment to stand by the fraternal people of Afghanistan and its willingness to move forward in the path of strategic partnerships with the UN as well as regional and international partners and friends to face the challenges in Afghanistan and the world.
For her part, the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations extended her thanks to Qatar for its continuous constructive efforts and partnership with the UN, pointing out that Doha was her first stop before visiting Afghanistan. She said that this visit saw an important meeting with HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, during which she gave a comprehensive briefing on the meetings she held with the Afghan caretaker government.
She affirmed that the UN would never abandon the Afghan people, calling on the international community to continue humanitarian response efforts.
The meeting was attended by a large number of permanent delegates and representatives of the countries members of the Group of Friends of Afghanistan and the Group of Friends of Women in Afghanistan, representing the countries interested in the Afghanistan issue, such as Qatar, the United States, Turkey, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Scandinavian countries, some countries from Central Asia and Eastern Europe, and others.
