Tuesday, 3 January 2023 سه شنبه ۱۳ جدی ۱۴۰۱
Announcement
Please be informed that the Embassy & Mission of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and its consulate section in Rome, will be closed on Friday, January 6th, 2023, due to Epiphany in Italy. The Embassy and its consulate will resume services on Monday, January 9th, 2023.
The Embassy and Mission of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in Rome wishes everyone, particularly the host country of the Republic of Italy and Afghans residing in Italy, a happy and prosperous New Year 2023.
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L'Ambasciata della Repubblica Islamica dell'Afghanistan a Roma augura a tutte le Nazioni amiche, in particolare al Paese ospitante della Repubblica d'Italia e agli afgani residenti in Italia, un felice e prosperoso Nuovo Anno 2023.
سه شنبه، ۲۹ قوس ۱۴۰۱ Tuesday, December 20th 2022
Announcement
Please be informed that the Embassy and Mission of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and its consulate section in Rome, will be closed from Monday, 26 December 2022, until Friday, 30 December 2022, due to the host country’s New Year holidays. The Embassy and its consulate section will resume services on Monday, 2 January 2023.
بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم
Excellencies and Distinguished Speakers, Panelists, Moderators, Organizers, Guests and Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good afternoon.
First and foremost, I would like to extend my gratitude to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Italy as well as Women In International Security (WIIS) Italy for initiating and organizing this grand event. Today’s deliberations at this event were fruitful and inspiring. I would further like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to our allies and partners, including to the Republic of Italy for all their sacrifices rendered both in blood and treasure in Afghanistan. Let me assure you as we cherish these sacrifices, they will be marked as immortal in the contemporary history of Afghanistan. At this juncture, my sincere appreciation also goes to Italy’s governmental and nongovernmental organizations for their active engagement in areas of humanitarian assistance and humanitarian evacuation in the last year and a half in Afghanistan.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The protection of girls and women’ rights as well as their empowerment is crucial in Afghan society. Hence, discussing and addressing their needs and concerns with indigenous and non-indigenous women peace builders, negotiators and mediators, especially with local Afghan women and the Afghan women diaspora is an integral part of the process through which, our citizens can achieve sustainable peace and security in the country.
Unfortunately, since the fall of the elected government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in August 2021, Afghanistan has further plunged into political, economic, social and humanitarian crisis, particularly as it relates to the violation of girls, women and minority rights in Afghanistan.
The current calculated discourse by the Taliban to erase women and girls from the public life in Afghanistan not only has revoked the liberties that Afghan women won through a history of struggle and activism, but also unraveled the gains made over the last two decades with the help of our international partners including Italy.
In order to avoid further deterioration of the girls and women’s situation as well as to deal with other crisis in Afghanistan, I strongly believe it is time for the international community, on one hand, to continue with their current engagement while further strengthening the role of active networks, synergy and coordination based on a wholistic approach that is Afghan owned and Afghan driven; on the other hand, we must become more realistic by toughening up our diplomatic approach in employing “Smart Power” to exert more pressure in order to promote Afghan owned and Afghan driven principled negotiations, where ethnic diversity and gender equality would be a pivotal part of it. Let me emphasize, any principled negotiation, which would be devoid of guaranteeing Afghan girls, women and minorities’ rights, would not be acceptable by the Afghan nation.
As it relates to your question as to how Italy can help Afghanistan? In view of the historical and fraternal relations that we have with Italy, where Italy was the first Western nation to recognize the Independence of Afghanistan in 1919 as well as Italy’s proactive role in especially in Herat in the last 20 years in Afghanistan, Italy can assist us as following:
Since August of last year, there has been an influx of Afghans to Italy, and most of these new comers are comprised of former civil servants, military and security officers, political activists, artists, academics and athletes; Italy can categorize them in various professional groups and utilize their expertise and experiences by bridging the gap between the Afghan diaspora here and the Afghans in Afghanistan. Additionally, Italy can play an important role in convening a Peace Conference by inviting the true representatives of Afghanistan from inside and outside the country to discuss and come up with way and means of starting a peace initiative in order to put an end to the current calamity in Afghanistan.
Lastly, let assure you all that we as a strong nation stand united and ready to assist and work in synergy with the international community to provide our know hows, networks and experiences in order to overcome the current challenges in my motherland, Afghanistan.
Thank you.
Tuesday, 6 December 2022
Announcement
Please be informed that the Embassy & Mission of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and its consulate section in Rome, will be closed on Thursday, December 8th, 2022, due to Immaculate Conception Day in Italy. The Embassy and its consulate will resume services on Friday, December 9th, 2022.
Statement of the Embassy and Mission of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in Rome on The Moscow Format of Consultations on Afghanistan
29 November 2022, Rome
The Embassy and Mission of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (IRoA) in Rome, Italy welcomes the joint statement by the participating parties of the Moscow Format of Consultations on Afghanistan, particularly with regard to preventing further exacerbation of the humanitarian catastrophe in the country and working to achieve stability, security and lasting peace in Afghanistan.
The Embassy and Mission of the IRoA in Rome strongly supports the member countries’ emphasis on the need to build upon previous regional and international consensus to establish an inclusive, representative, participatory, and responsive government, without any discrimination, and with the full, equal, meaningful, and safe participation of women and ethnic minorities in Afghanistan. This Embassy and Mission further welcomes the demand of the participating countries for the observance of human rights in Afghanistan, especially the rights of women and ethnic minorities as well as the fundamental freedoms for all Afghans. Agreeing with member countries, this Embassy and Mission also reiterates on the importance of the territorial integrity, sovereignty, the right to self-determination and unity of Afghanistan. Once again, we reassert that Afghanistan’s territory should stop being used as a safe haven by state and non-state terrorist organizations and affiliates for serving their strategic goals that are considered a direct threat to the regional and global security.
The Embassy and Mission of the IRoA reaffirms that the only way to secure a lasting solution to the current conflict and to achieve a lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan, and beyond is through principled negotiations in order to address the aforementioned fundamental issues, and make good on the aspirations of Afghan citizens for a united, sovereign, peaceful and inclusive Afghanistan, where there will be no room for sectarianism and/or discrimination on ethnic, religious, linguistic or any other grounds.
Statement of the Embassy and Mission of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in Rome on the UN General
Assembly's Session on the Situation in Afghanistan
Rome, 15 November 2022
The Embassy and Mission of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (IRoA) in Rome, Italy welcomes the recent resolution by the U.N. General Assembly, which reflects the continuation of the international consensus and solidarity with the people of Afghanistan.
We echo the resolution's concerns about the heinous attacks by terrorist groups against civilians and civilian infrastructure, which have targeted educational facilities, diplomatic premises and personnel, and religious sites belonging to minorities, resulting in devastating consequences for victims and their families. This deplorable pattern reveals the Taliban's complete inability to address threats to security in Afghanistan, the region, and beyond.
We also welcome the resolution's highlight of the plight of internally displaced persons in and refugees from Afghanistan, as well as its strong emphasis on the need to investigate current and past violations of international humanitarian law and abuses of human rights, facilitating effective remedies for victims and bringing those responsible to justice. In this regard, we reiterate our call
for the immediate establishment of an independent investigative mechanism, complementary to the investigation by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
Furthermore, we strongly support the resolution's emphasis on the need to establish an inclusive, representative, participatory, and responsive government, without any discrimination, and with the full, equal, meaningful and safe participation of women, persons belonging to minorities, youth and persons with disabilities. We believe at the moment, it has become clear that the Taliban are unwilling and unable to uphold their commitments to the international community and their obligations to the people of Afghanistan.
However, while UN General Assembly’s efforts are greatly appreciated, the Embassy and Mission of IRoA in Rome believes that this resolution underscores the dire humanitarian situation, which continues to worsen, as millions, particularly women and children, face emergency levels of food insecurity. We emphasize the need to ensure aid is not diverted by the Taliban, and instead reaches all those in need. Moreover, while we appreciate generous and dedicated efforts to host refugees, we also remain concerned about their treatment and violations of the principle of non-refoulement. Recalling the obligations of States under international refugee law, we underline the need for stronger action at this critical time, as women, human rights defenders, journalists, and minorities remain at risk.
In line with other Embassies and Missions of the IRoA, this Embassy and Mission considers UN as a rare window of hope with a vital role and authority for protecting the people of Afghanistan. We once again appreciate the UN General Assembly’s efforts and reiterate our commitment to achieving a peaceful and democratic Afghanistan, which ensures the human rights, safety, and dignity of all its citizens.
Announcement
Please be informed that the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and its consulate section in Rome, will be closed on Monday October 31st and Tuesday, November 1st, 2022, due to the holiday of All Saints' Day. The Embassy and its consulate section will resume services on Wednesday, November 2nd, 2022.
بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم
On behalf of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, we support the statement made by Kuwait, delivered on behalf of the G77, and China on the “State of World’s Forest 2022”.
The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan wishes to underline the plight of vulnerable developing countries, including Afghanistan, where prolonged political, economic, and social crisis under the Taliban, also had devastating effects on the forest, and land use due to the breakdown in the management of natural resources in Afghanistan.
Due to four decades of conflict and displacement of our population, followed by the forceful taking of power by the Taliban, where a large number of the Afghan population have either left the country through humanitarian corridor or fled the country, Afghanistan area of natural forest has gone down from 1.5 million hectares to about 1 million hectares at present; This is a loss of 50%. Currently, the area under forests is 1.33% of total land area, compared to 2.3% in the 1990s. From 2001 to 2021 27% of tree cover loss occurred in areas, where dominant drivers of loss resulted in deforestation in Afghanistan. Reports indicate that under the Taliban administration, biodiversity policies are fully neglected and thus the illegal timber trade, though limited to a few eastern provinces, plays an important role in on- going instability in these areas. Hence, this has created a lucrative shadow economy that reaches across the frontier, providing incentives for the Taliban profiting from timber smuggling to perpetuate instability. The degradation of natural resources also directly and severely has harmed the environment and ecosystem, affecting the livelihoods of most of the Afghan population as well as the country’s agriculture and economic development. Let us not forget that healthy societies depend on healthy environment, which are rich in biodiversity.
Mr. Chairperson,
Dear Colleagues,
The process of recovery of natural forests is to make the community its custodian, provide training to communities in care to manage forests, replant and maintain barren forest landscape, and aggressively prevent illegal export of forest wood. Considering the close link between forest and rangeland, it is also essential to ensure that the local community is put in charge of both forest and rangeland. Hence, it is proposed that the FAO should concentrate on ways and means of dealing with members of the local Afghan Community in Afghanistan as well as our mutual partners on forest pathways to achieve environmental goals, that could adequately be reflected in the agrifood system’s transformation policies.
Thank you, Chairperson.
