The Taliban and Western diplomats have begun their first official talks in Europe since they took over control of Afghanistan in August. Taliban representatives will be certain to press their demand that nearly $10 billion frozen by the United States and other Western countries be released as Afghanistan faces a precarious humanitarian situation. Ahead of the talks, western diplomats met with Afghan women's rights activists and human rights defenders to hear from civil society in Afghanistan and the Afghan diaspora about their demands and assessment of the current situation on the ground.
A joint statement tweeted overnight by Zabihullah Mujahid, the Afghan deputy culture and information minister, following the talks reads that "participants of the meeting recognized that understanding and joint cooperation are the only solutions to all the problems of Afghanistan," and emphasized that "all Afghans need to work together for better political, economic, and security outcomes in the country." The United Nations has managed to provide some liquidity and allowed the Taliban administration to pay for imports, including electricity. But the U.N. has warned that as many as 1 million Afghan children are in danger of starving and most of the country's 38 million people are living below the poverty line. Faced with the Taliban's request for funds, Western powers are likely to put the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan high on their agenda, along with the West's recurring demand for the Taliban administration to share power with Afghanistan's minority ethnic and religious groups.
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