The third meeting of Special Envoys on Afghanistan will take place in Doha, Qatar, on 30 June and 1 July. United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, will chair the meeting on behalf of the Secretary-General.

The meeting will discuss how to advance international engagement on Afghanistan in a more coherent, coordinated, and structured manner.

The meeting follows talks in Doha in May 2023 and February 2024. It will provide for direct discussions between the Special Envoys on Afghanistan of countries from the region and around the world and the Afghan de facto authorities. Some 30 countries and international institutions have been invited to participate.

The Doha meeting will discuss the independent assessment on engagement with Afghanistan submitted to the Security Council in November 2023 (document S/2023/856).

On 2 July in Doha, the Under-Secretary-General and Special Envoys are set to meet with representatives of Afghan civil society, including human rights and women’s rights advocates. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), Roza Otunbayeva, will also take part in the Doha discussions.

Ahead of the meeting, Under-Secretary-General DiCarlo said: “The Doha discussions are part of a process; they are not a one-off. The ultimate objective of this process is an Afghanistan at peace with itself and its neighbors, fully integrated into the international community and meeting its international obligations, including on human rights, particularly those of women and girls. At this week’s meetings we will discuss the multiple challenges facing the Afghan people, Afghanistan’s neighbors and the region, and the wider international community. There will also be an opportunity to explore avenues for further principled engagement with the de facto authorities for the benefit of all Afghans.”