Fulfilling the UN Secretary General's Invitation, Indonesia Emphasizes Women's Rights and Worsening Situation in Afghanistan

JAKARTA - Indonesia emphasizes the need to respect women's rights in Afghanistan, inviting the world to seriously pay attention to the deteriorating situation in the country and to be ready to provide assistance, said Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi.

Foreign Minister Retno said this while attending the Meeting of Special Envoys on Afghanistan at the invitation of the UN Secretary-General, which was held in Doha, Qatar on Monday 1 May.

In the meeting which was attended by the United States, Russia, China, Britain, Saudi Arabia to Turkey, as well as the OIC and the European Union, Foreign Minister Retno stressed a number of important things, addressing the current conditions in Afghanistan.

"It is important to respect the rights of Afghan women, including the right to education and employment," said Foreign Minister Retno in a written statement from Doha, as quoted on May 2.

"The world also needs to pay attention to the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Afghanistan. In this regard, Indonesia is committed to providing assistance in the fields of health and education," she continued.

In the health sector, continued Foreign Minister Retno, to respond to the outbreak of polio in Afghanistan and at the request of local authorities after consulting with WHO, Indonesia is committed to providing 10 million polio vaccines for the people of Afghanistan.

"The preparation process for administering the vaccine is currently underway, both with WHO, UNICEF, and BioFarma as the Polio vaccine producer," said Foreign Minister Retno.

Meanwhile, in the field of education, he continued, Indonesia will provide scholarships/capacity building to young people in Afghanistan, including women. For this year, one of the focuses is empowerment in the economic field.

"Both the UN Secretary-General and all the countries present, they appreciate the efforts made by Indonesia," said Foreign Minister Retno.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Foreign Minister Retno also held a number of other meetings, including with UNAMA, the US Special Envoy for Afghanistan, British and Norwegian Special Envoys, Qatar Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Apart from that, Foreign Minister Retno also had the opportunity to have a virtual meeting with female Afghan leaders.

Previously, Foreign Minister Retno also held a bilateral meeting with Qatar's Minister of State for International Cooperation Lolwah Al-Khater, the Qatar Government's mandate holder for the Afghanistan issue.

"We discussed efforts to continue to push for the advancement of women's rights in Afghanistan. We agreed to help the Afghan people, especially in two main areas, namely health, and education," said Foreign Minister Retno.

"Specifically regarding education, several scholarships will be offered to the people of Afghanistan, especially women," she continued.

"And in order to follow up on the International Conference on Afghan Women Education which was held last December in Bali, a similar meeting is planned to be held in Doha in November this year," concluded Foreign Minister Retno.

He added, they also agreed to continue the Trilateral Dialogue between Indonesia-Qatar-Afghanistan for the second time.