After the Taliban takeover: What future awaits Afghanistan?

The Swedish Committee for Afghanistan is organising its biennial international conference on November 11, 2021, in Stockholm. The conference will gather experts, policymakers, civil society, and academia to discuss the latest developments.

The Taliban have yet again taken control of Afghanistan. It´s still too early to conclude what “the new normal” will look like and several questions are being raised. Which direction is Afghanistan and its people heading and how can peoples’ rights be defended?

With the freezing of international donor funds to the state institutions, against the backdrop of a protracted drought, covid-19 and a vast majority of the population living below the poverty line, the current humanitarian crisis could evolve into a disaster.

How can the international community continue its support to the Afghan people? How should it relate to and engage with the Taliban regime? What does continued support to women’s rights look like?

Participants

• Per Olsson Fridh, Minister for International Development Cooperation, Sweden
• Carin Jämtin, Director General, Sida (the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency)
• Bengt Ekman, Chair, Swedish Committee for Afghanistan
• Andreas von Brandt, Ambassador and Head of Delegation of the EU to Afghanistan, European External Action Service (EEAS)
• Andreas Stefansson, Secretary General, Swedish Committee for Afghanistan
• Kate Clark, Co-Director Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN)
• Anders Fänge, Member of SCA board, previous SCA Country Director
• Stephen Brooking, Special Advisor and Head of the Taliban Liaison Team, UNAMA and former UN Special Advisor on Afghanistan
• Ashley Jackson, Co-Director of the Centre for the Study of Armed Groups at Overseas Development Institute (ODI)
• Barnett Rubin, Former senior adviser to the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan at the US State Department
• Tomas Niklasson, Special Envoy of the European Union for Afghanistan, European External Action Service
• Najwa Alimi, Journalist and recipient of the Per Anger prize 2019
• Khalid Fahim, Programme Director and Deputy Country Director, Swedish Committee for Afghanistan
• Ulrika Modéer, Assistant Secretary General and Director of Bureau of External Relations and Advocacy, UNDP
• Terje M Watterdal, Country Director, Norwegian Afghanistan Committee

Note! Due to a limited number of seats, the conference is by invite only but the conference will be livestreamed on SCA’s digital platforms.