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POLITICS

Italian PM Draghi urges G20 to do ‘all it can’ on Afghan women’s rights

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi urged the G20 on Thursday to protect women's rights in Afghanistan, warning they "risk becoming once again second-class citizens" under Taliban rule.

Published: 26 August 2021 14:57 CEST
Italian PM Draghi urges G20 to do 'all it can' on Afghan women's rights
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi. Photo: Filippo Monteforte/AFP

“We must not delude ourselves: Afghan girls and women are on the brink of losing freedom and dignity and of returning to the dismal conditions in which they found themselves two decades ago,” Draghi said as Italy, which holds the rotating G20 presidency, hosted a conference on women’s empowerment.

In a statement, Draghi said women in Afghanistan “risk becoming once again second-class citizens, who face violence and are discriminated against systematically just because of their gender”.

READ ALSO: ‘No time to lose’: How is Italy responding to the Afghan refugee crisis?

He added: “The G20 must do all it can to ensure that Afghan women preserve their fundamental freedoms and basic rights, especially the right to education. Progress made over the past 20 years must be preserved.”

The takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban has sparked fears of a return to the Islamic fundamentalist group’s brutal regime of the 1990s that saw women confined to their homes and punishments including stoning to death for those accused of adultery.

“We cannot look away, and we do not want to,” Italian Equalities Minister Elena Bonetti told Thursday’s G20 conference in Santa Margherita Ligure, near Genoa.

The gathering was hailed by Italy as the first of its kind dedicated exclusively to women’s empowerment, drawing equality ministers and representatives from business, NGOs, academia and civil society from around the world.

It is focused on overcoming inequalities that in many cases have been made starker during the coronavirus pandemic, emphasising the importance of education, training, participation in the workplace and work-life balance.

Meanwhile Italy continues to airlift Italian citizens and Afghans who have worked for the Italian government out of Kabul.

Shots were fired at an Italian transport plane carrying Afghan former NATO workers as it left Kabul airport on Thursday, Italian military sources told news agency Ansa. There was no damage to the aircraft.

Emergency flights organised by western nations to airlift out Afghans at risk of Taliban reprisals due to their work for foreign governments are due to end next Tuesday, August 31st.

Member comments

  1. Total crickets about the coming disaster for Afghan women and girls from the America left. Hypocrisy at its worst.

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POLITICS

‘It’s time to reset Britain’s relations with Europe’

As he begins his first overseas trip, the UK's new Foreign Secretary David Lammy writes for The Local on how Britain plans to rebuild ties with Europe and become a better neighbour.

Published: 7 July 2024 08:54 CEST
'It’s time to reset Britain's relations with Europe'

I am a man of multiple identities. Londoner. English. Patriotic Brit. Proud of my Caribbean heritage. A transatlanticist. And, throughout my political career, absolutely committed to a close partnership with our European neighbours. 

As the new British Foreign Secretary, with our Prime Minister Keir Starmer, this government will reset relations with Europe as a reliable partner, a dependable ally and a good neighbour. 

That is why I am travelling immediately to some of our key European partners. Sitting down with Germany’s Annalena Baerbock, Poland’s Radek Sikorski and Sweden’s Tobias Billström, my message will be simple: let us seize the opportunity for a reset, working even more closely together to tackle shared challenges. 

READ ALSO: New UK foreign minister in Germany for first trip abroad

The most immediate of these challenges, of course, is Ukraine. We will stand by the brave people of Ukraine, as they defend their freedom against Vladimir Putin’s new form of fascism.

British military, economic, political and diplomatic support for Ukraine will remain ironclad. But we are always stronger when we work with others. Germany, Poland and Sweden are all also staunch supporters of Ukraine. European security will be this government’s foreign and defence priority.

Russia’s barbaric invasion has made clear the need for us to do more to strengthen our own defences.

Next week, the Prime Minister, the Defence Secretary and I will all travel to Washington for the NATO Summit. 75 years ago, my political hero and former Labour Foreign Secretary, Ernest Bevin, was pivotal to forming the Alliance. He would have been delighted to see NATO grow larger over the years, with Germany, Poland and now Sweden all joining the most successful defensive alliance in history. 

This Government’s commitment to the Alliance is unshakeable, just as it was in Bevin’s time. I will be discussing this weekend how NATO allies can go further in investing in our tightly connected defence industries and providing Ukraine with its own clear path to joining our alliance. 

Alongside security, we want to do more together to bring prosperity to our continent. None of us can address the urgency of the climate emergency alone – we need coordinated global action. This is particularly important in Europe, whose energy networks are so closely connected – together, we must invest in the industries of the future and deliver sustained economic growth for all.

And finally, we must do more to champion the ties between our people and our culture. Holidays, family ties, school and student exchanges, the arts, and sport (I was of course cheering on England in the Euros…). Thanks to this, our citizens benefit from the rich diversity of our continent. 

We can deliver more cooperation in many areas bilaterally, via NATO and in groupings like the G7, the Joint Expeditionary Force or the European Political Community which will gather at Blenheim Palace on July 18th. 

But if we are to fulfil our ambitions for a reset, we must also improve Britain’s relationship with the European Union.

I will be explaining to my new fellow Foreign Ministers how our new Government’s proposal for an ambitious and broad-ranging UK-EU Security Pact would underpin closer cooperation between us, enshrining a new geopolitical partnership. I also look forward to hearing their ideas for how we can rebuild trust and reset the relationship between the UK and the EU. 

Over centuries, our individual and national stories have come together to tell a wider story of shared progress. Today, we all share a commitment to democracy, human rights and international law. Tragic experiences in our continent’s shared past have helped us to understand how our shared security and prosperity depend on these shared values.

And I believe these values also offer a foundation for closer partnership in the future. My visit this weekend is just the beginning. I look forward to seeing Britain reconnect with our European neighbours in the years ahead.

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