Ashraf Ghani
Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani (C) gestures as he arrives to attend the Regional Economic Cooperation Conference of Afghanistan (RECCA) in Kabul, Afghanistan September 4, 2015. Reuters/Omar Sobhani

Talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban insurgents were put on hold in July after news leaked that Taliban founder Mullah Omar was already dead for over two years. Now, Human Rights Watch, or HRW, an organisation focused on promoting women’s rights and welfare based in the United States, is urging the Afghan government to include women in the discussion of important political matters.

Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani promised to allow women to participate “at the right time,” but HRW’s women, peace and security campaigner Sarah Taylor insisted that “…for full and meaningful participation, every stage of the process is the ‘right time’ to involve women”.

The Afghan government had previously made commitments to ensure the protection and implementation of women’s rights. Laws that safeguard and protect women’s rights exist in the country, but are mostly under threat. Parliamentary quotas for women were also significantly reduced.

This inertia can be attributed to the conservative nature of the country. Even though President Ghani had put women’s rights in his agenda prior to his assumption of power in September, promoting these rights are still a struggle as there are attempts to ban women from all areas of public life. For instance, the first woman to be elected in the Supreme Court was rejected by parliament.

HRW's Taylor noted that the pause in the talks between the government and the Taliban is an opportunity to prepare and involve women. From 2005 to 2014, there were 23 rounds of talks made between the two parties. Out of all these chances, women were only present in the negotiations twice.

"Ghani should take steps now to genuinely integrate women into the peace process at every level ... advising the president and sitting across the table from Taliban negotiators," Taylor concludes.

Contact the writer at feedback@ibtimes.com.au, or let us know what you think below.