JABAR EKSPRES — Indonesian Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, in a meeting with Qatari Minister of State for International Cooperation, Lolwah Al-Khater, in Doha on Monday (5/1), agreed to encourage efforts to advance women’s rights in Afghanistan.
“We did a compare note on the issue of Afghanistan. We also discussed efforts to continue promoting women’s rights in Afghanistan,” Retno said in a Foreign Ministry statement on Tuesday (2/5).
Retno and Lolwah, who was mandated by the Qatari government to handle the Afghan issue, agreed to help the Afghan people, especially in two main areas, namely health and education.
Specifically on education, according to Retno, the two countries discussed scholarships that will be offered to the Afghan people, especially women.
In addition, to follow up the International Conference on Afghan Women Education held in December 2022 in Bali, a similar meeting is planned to be held in Doha in November this year.
“We both also agreed to continue the second Indonesia-Qatar-Afghanistan Trilateral Dialogue of Scholars,” Retno said.
Retno also fulfilled the UN Secretary-General’s invitation to attend and contribute to the Meeting of Special Envoys on Afghanistan which consisted of three sessions.
In addition to Indonesia, the countries invited to the session were the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, India, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Turkey, and a number of other countries, as well as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the European Union.
On the sidelines of the three-session meeting, Retno also met with representatives of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), the US Special Envoy for Afghanistan, as well as the UK and Norway Special Envoys.
“I also met with Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (Pakistan) Mrs. Hina Rabbani Khar and UN Secretary-General (Antonio Guterres),” Retno said.
Retno also had the opportunity to have a virtual meeting with Afghan women leaders where she emphasized several things, one of which was the importance of respect for the rights of Afghan women including in education and employment.
