Angelina Jolie at United Nations, Calls for Women’s Participation in Afghan Peace Talks

Actress and activist Angelina Jolie has addressed diplomats and ministers at the United Nations recently, where she has pushed for the inclusion of the women in Afghan Peace talks in order to end the conflict.

The Afghan Peace talks have started last year between the US and the Taliban negotiators but some women in Afghanistan fear that their freedom would be snatched away and their voices would be sidelined, as the talks began for the first time since the US-backed Afghan forces overthrew the Taliban in 2001.

Academy award winning actress and refugee activist Angelina Jolie told during the ministerial meeting on UN peacekeeping at UN Headquarters, “In Afghanistan thousands of women have recently come together in public risking their lives to ask that their rights and the rights of their children be guaranteed in peace negotiations that so far they have been allow no part of”.

Jolie, who is a special envoy for the UN refugee agency UNHCR, said, “The international community's silent response is alarming to say the least. There can be no peace or stability in Afghanistan or anywhere else in the world that involves trading away the rights of women”.

In an official statement, the Taliban has said that they might consider more liberal policies towards women. Their chief negotiator has said that the Afghan constitution, which protects the right of the women is an obstacle to peace.

Angelina Jolie also glorified the importance of the United States, which is an important part of an international community after a retreat by US President Donald Trump from UN agencies and global agreements. Some countries are therefore also concerned about his commitment to multilateralism.

Angelina Jolie said, “I am a patriot, I love my country and I want to see it thrive. I also believe in an America that is part of an international community. Countries working together on equal footing is how we reduce the risk of conflict”. She also added, “A country that believes that all men and women are born free and equal cannot be true to itself if it doesn’t defend those principles for all people, wherever they live”.

Angelina Jolie who is well known for her social concerns is associated with the UN for the last 18 years. Last year she visited Iraq as part of her work as a special ambassador for the UN and the year before she visited Africa and met adolescent refugee girls in Kenya. When the star is not in her social missions, she spends time with her six children.