A chance for peace in Afghanistan

An historic opportunity and a day of cautious optimism, world leaders called it, as the Afghan government and Taliban sat down, face to face, in Doha, this week.

After forty years of conflict, they are discussing the establishment of a mutual ceasefire and the integration of the Taliban into the government of Afghanistan. 

Since the US invasion following the 9/11 attacks in 2001, thousands of civilians have been killed each year, and many soldiers have lost their lives. In February this year, the US signed an agreement with the Taliban, paving the way for the peace talks that started in Doha last Saturday. The agreement committed the US to scale down its military presence and to release Taliban prisoners, but left to the Afghan parties to negotiate a peace agreement.

As they sat down in Doha, the capitol of Qatar, both parties agreed that there is no military solution to the long-lasting conflict, and that the talks should continue. Some experts say it might take years. 

Women’s rights are among the difficult issues on the negotiation table. One of the few women who take part in the Afghanistan government’s delegation is Fawzia Koofi, Afghanistan’s first female deputy speaker of parliament. As a young medical student, she was forced to end her studies when the Taliban came to power. Her father, also a politician, was killed by the Mujahideen, and her husband was imprisoned by the Taliban. Fawzia herself is the victim of several assassination attempts, the last one only weeks prior to the peace talks in Doha. As she sat down in the front row in the negotiation room, facing the Taliban delegation, her right arm was in bandages after she was shot by gunmen outside Kabul. 

“No war can end with war”, she wrote on twitter the day the peace talks started, ready to negotiate the same rights as she was deprived of as a young woman under the Taliban regime.

Next month, Fawzia Koofi will join the conference Oslo Pax: Diversity Matters at the Nobel Peace Center to talk about what difference the voices of women can make in a peace negotiation as the one she is now taking part in.