JakartaPost-Jan 23, 2023
Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi has discussed with various representatives in New York, the United States, support for women’s education in Afghanistan as well as Indonesia’s candidacy for membership in the United Nations Human Rights Council for the 2024-2026 period. One of the representatives met by the minister on Thursday was the United States Special Envoy for Afghan women, girls and human rights Rina Amiri. The two officials discussed the follow-ups to the International Conference on Afghan Women’s Education (ICAEW), according to the ministry’s press release. The conference was hosted by Indonesia in Bali in December, which produced political commitment and concrete support for the education and empowerment of Afghan women. Retno said that it was important to consider alternative educational methods for Afghan women, such as online education or women empowerment through informal education, while holding dialogues among religious leaders from Muslim countries and Afghanistan. The minister also met with the permanent representatives of nations at the UN that are influential in the issue of Afghanistan, such as Security Council permanent members like the US, the United Kingdom, Russia and China, Muslim countries such as Pakistan and Turkey, as well as donor countries such as Germany and Switzerland. In addition to discussion about humanitarian aids and support for women’s education in Afghanistan, Minister Retno also shared about Indonesia’s priority in its 2023 ASEAN chairmanship, including on the latest developments in Myanmar and the Asia-Pacific region. Retno also met with the deputy executive director of UNICEF to make sure that international society would still provide vital humanitarian aid for the people of Afghanistan. The Taliban in Afghanistan increasingly put restraints on women, stopping women and girls from attending school and university and most recently banning most female aid workers in the country. The UN deputy secretary-general Amina Mohammed met with Afghanistan acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Kabul on Wednesday to discuss women’s rights in Afghanistan. Read more at: https://www.thejakartapost.com/paper/2023/01/23/retno-discusses-aid-support-for-afghan-womens-education.html.
