Heavy rains and flooding expected in 23 Afghan provinces

The head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), Roza Otunbayeva, told reporters after a UN Security Council meeting yesterday that no one can set conditions for the organization and the way it holds meetings.

The Security Council held a meeting on Afghanistan in New York yesterday, Friday.

At the end of this month, the United Nations will hold the third Afghanistan conference in Doha, the capital of Qatar.

Roza Otunbayeva said the two-day Doha conference will be chaired by Rosemary DiCarlo, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peace Affairs.

The Doha conference has been criticised by activists and human rights groups for the lack of representation of Afghan women.

Tirina Hassan, executive director of Human Rights Watch, said the UN wanted to hold a meeting without women’s rights on the agenda due to pressure from the Taliban and that Afghan women were not present. “It’s shocking,” he said.

On the other hand, Amnesty International head Agnes Kalma said that if women and Afghan civil society representatives are not present at the Doha conference, “the credibility of this conference will be lost.”