HBKU's CPP recently hosts the Afghanistan Future Thought Forum

Forty influential Afghans discussed the many challenges facing their country

Entity: College of Public Policy

The Afghanistan Future Thought Forum held its 10th session in Doha, Qatar, February 12-14, facilitated by the College of Public Policy’s (CPP) Professor Sultan Barakat, and chaired by Mrs. Fatima Gailani, former Deputy Leader of the negotiation team to the Doha talks between the Afghanistan Islamic Republic and the Taliban. In addition to Doha, previous meetings have taken place in Kabul, Jakarta, Istanbul, and Oslo.

Forty influential Afghans, representing all political and ethnic groups from inside and outside Afghanistan, engaged in dialogue over the challenges facing the country. The participants reviewed progress and discussed ongoing internal and external challenges, including efforts to reverse the ban on female education and strategies for the economically devastated country to survive the abrupt cutoff of lifesaving assistance by the Trump administration.

On February 14th, the AFTF briefed members of the diplomatic community: Spain, Italy, Australia, United States, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany, Norway, Qatar, Netherlands, Turkey, Indonesia, South Korea, India, and the World Bank.

It was agreed that the creative proposals made by AFTF should be followed up on, exploring a unified approach with the authorities in Kabul and the international community.