بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم

Mr. President,

Madam Director General,

Distinguished Members,

Ladies, and Gentlemen,

Good morning to you all!

It is a great pleasure for me to attend today’s Annual Meeting of the Assembly of Parties.

As you may be all aware, for the two decades IDLO assisted the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to develop accessible and efficient justice sector institutions. Starting in 2011, I personally witnessed IDLO’s assistance to the Attorney General’s Office to establish and operationalize the Directorate of Elimination of Violence against Women. In 2021, IDLO also began to assist the Ministry of Women’s Affairs to develop guidelines on processing and reporting Gender-Based Violence (GBV) cases to relevant authorities as well as standard operating procedures to guide the Ministry’s coordination with GBV service providers.

IDLO’s training of Afghan public defenders, empowering of the poor to seek legal aid, and helping build legal resources in most of the country’s provinces was of paramount importance. Additionally, IDLO’s development of legal textbooks, reconstitution of an entire pre-war body of lost laws, and contribution to the establishment of a law library at the University of Kabul benefited thousands of Afghan judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers, MPs, civil servants, diplomats, and academics.

While 24 projects were successfully implemented by IDLO in Afghanistan, currently 3 projects are suspended: 1. Reducing the Impact of Insecurity on Afghanistan’s Legal System (RIIALS) project; 2. Transferring Professional Development Capacity (TPDC) project; and 3. Supporting Access to Justice in Afghanistan (SAJA) project. These three projects center on ensuring the safety and security of justice workers; facilitating professional development in the legal sector; and countering gender-based violence and supporting survivors.

With the Taliban continuing to hold power in Afghanistan, uncertainty regarding the extent of bureaucratic impediments that may change due to non-functionality of various ministries, permanent closure of the Ministry of Women Affairs, and the abolishment of Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) will make the implementation and monitoring of most projects problematic. Though the Taliban have announced new caretaker ministers and have called for the resumption of activities and reportedly produced operational guidelines for NGOs and organizations, these theoretical guidelines and assurances have not been implemented by their local and decentralized administration.

Mr. President,

Madam Director General,

Distinguished Guests,

Though gender equality has been an important feature of Afghanistan’s State Constitution, unfortunately with the Taliban’s so called radical Sharia Law, this denies Afghan women of their rightful place in society by depriving them of equal access to education, employment, justice, and livelihood. This means that it is going to rob Afghan society of the talent and the potential of half of its members and dictate their submission to male relatives, or limits what they may own or inherit.

As it relates to addressing these issues and concerns, we have 3 ENGAGEMENT options with the Taliban:

1. Engagement based on “Wait and See Approach”.

2. Engagement based on “The Taliban ‘s Own Terms and Condition”.

3. Engagement based on our “Own Unified Terms and Conditions”.

In our view to avoid the collapse of the justice system and rule of law in Afghanistan, engagement is a must with the Taliban. However, the only pragmatic and viable engagement option with the Taliban, should be based on international community’s unified terms and conditions.

The Taliban must understand that a justice sector without the presence of women and without the guarantee for their safety and security, is unacceptable. The Taliban must understand that a society were women, minorities and the poor segment of society cannot seek legal aid, is unacceptable. The Taliban must understand that in a regime were women cannot pursue their education and higher education is unacceptable.

Let me take this opportunity to express the people and IRoA’s appreciation to Madam Director General’s efforts and IDLO’s continued assistance, efforts and sacrifices rendered especially during the COVID19 by reducing the justice gap for women and girls through the promotion of gender-responsive legal, regulatory and policy frameworks. We thank IDLO for their commitment by supporting the most vulnerable population by proposing a “Humanitarian Plus” approach designed to contribute broader humanitarian and development outcomes by supporting the Afghan people in accessing justice and assuring their rights. We also welcome IDLO’s call for a dedicated approach in regard to the current crisis management and adoption of safety measures as well as the establishment of a dedicated hotline.

The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in Rome will remain affirm in providing full support and assistance to IDLO to accomplish their extremely important life-saving mission in Afghanistan and we recommend that IDLO to stay engaged and supportive of the Afghans, especially women, girls, minorities, and the disenfranchised segment of the population in Afghanistan.

Thank you,