Under the leadership of Ambassador Durrant of Jamaica, an Arria Formula meeting was held on 19 December with a delegation from the Afghan Women's Summit for Democracy which took place from 4 to 5 December in Brussels. The Arria Formula, named after former Ambassador Arria of Venezuela, allows members of the Security Council to meet with non-members and with representatives of non-governmental organizations.

Six Afghan women - Leila Enayat-Seraj, Shafiqa Habibi, Adeena Niazi, Soraya Paikan, Sahar Saba and Sima Wali - and a representative of the convenors (Center for Strategic Initiatives for Women, Equality Now, European Women's Lobby, Feminist Majority and V-Day) briefed the meeting on the Brussels Proclamation, the outcome of the Summit, and put forward their main priorities and concerns. The Brussels Proclamation focuses on the issues of education, media and culture; health; human rights and the Constitution; and refugees and internally displaced women. The Security Council members were urged to recognize the crucial role of women in the peace process and to ensure that women participated fully in the future Government of Afghanistan as well as in the Commission preparing the Loya Jirga (grand assembly). The women wanted to have schools reopened for all children on 21 March 2002, the beginning of the Afghan new year. One Afghan delegate, a former prominent radio and television journalist in Kabul, underlined the need to support the reestablishment of an independent and free media, and, particularly, radio for rural areas. The situation of refugees and displaced persons deserved particular attention: refugees needed to be given further assistance in order to expedite the voluntary repatriation of refugees. Some women, especially those who had suffered gender-based violence, would need to be resettled. The women called for the prompt deployment of an international peacekeeping force in order to provide security for the interim administration, and support the reconstruction process. In addition, the peacekeeping force should be in charge of disarming the warring factions.