UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. Placing women’s rights at the center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations System efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.
Afghanistan is one of the world’s most complex emergencies, and the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. Afghan people are grappling with the impact of conflict, poverty, economic decline, and natural disasters. In this context, Afghan women and girls face unique vulnerabilities and require urgent support as gender inequality is interwoven with conflict dynamics and humanitarian needs. It is essential that Afghan women and girls can continue to shape the development of their country, and that their gains are protected. UN Women remains fully committed to supporting Afghan women and girls and to putting them at the center of the global response to the crisis in Afghanistan.
UN Women has been in Afghanistan for two decades. UN Women’s programming approach is informed by analysis of the political, economic, and humanitarian situation, risks to and capacities of partner organizations, and needs of Afghan women and girls. UN Women Afghanistan currently has four key programme priorities: (1) Gender in Humanitarian Action, (2) Ending Violence Against Women, (3) Women’s Economic Empowerment, and (4) Women, Peace, and Security.
The Taliban takeover of Kabul on 15 August 2021 has had a seismic impact on Afghanistan. With the ascent of the Taliban, the future of women from all walks of life who have shaped the fabric of the country over the past 20 years, is unknown. The conflict dynamics in the country are multi-layered, and Afghanistan’s people are facing the devastating effects of a protracted conflict, increasing poverty and natural disasters, all of which are amplified by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the Taliban’s military offensive progressed throughout August, thousands of people fled to Kabul and other urban areas, seeking safety from the conflict and other threats. There are some 5.5 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Afghanistan, and approximately 80 percent of nearly a quarter of a million Afghans forced to flee since the end of May are women and children.[1] 2021 has to date been one of the deadliest years for Afghan women and girls, with more women and more children killed and injured than ever before recorded by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) for the first half of any calendar year.[2] More than 18 million people – fully half of the country’s population – are in need of humanitarian assistance, and almost a third of the country is facing emergency levels of food insecurity compounded by severe drought.[3]
Despite gains on women’s rights achieved over the past 20 years, Afghan women continue to struggle to avail themselves of their rights and to consolidate and advance their progress. In 2019, Afghanistan ranked 166 out of 167 countries on the Gender Development Index, an index designed to measure gender equality in three basic dimensions of human development: health, education, and command over economic resources.[4] Women and girls face barriers to their participation and decision-making in the public, economic, social, and political sphere. These include deeply entrenched patriarchal socio-cultural and traditional norms regarding the role of women; women’s lack of awareness of their rights, linked to low levels of literacy; a lack of access to education and economic opportunities; and harmful traditional practices such as honor killings, underage and forced marriages, and discrimination in public and private sector services delivery.
What progress has been achieved on the advancement of gender equality in Afghanistan in the past decades is now at risk of being erased – and at worst regressed. The Taliban have not yet articulated their vision for women’s rights and protection, stating only that “women’s rights will be protected under Islamic principles”. There have been reports that Afghan women and girls are already seeing restrictions on their access to health and education, freedom of movement, and freedom of expression. In a statement issued on 16 August 2021, just before the fall of Ashraf Ghani’s government, UN human rights experts warned that reports from almost half of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces show that most women are experiencing the same rights violations as 20 years ago under the control of the Taliban.[5]
According to an International Labor Organization (ILO) rapid assessment of from January 2022, women’s employment had decreased by an estimated 16 percent by the end of 2021, with this ILO assessment estimating that women’s employment losses would increase to 17 percent by mid-2022. On 24th December 2022, the Taliban issued a letter banning women from working in NGOs and INGOs, the latest attack in a series of systematic infringements on the fundamental rights of women and girls in Afghanistan. The immediate impact of this ban forced 94% of the surveyed 127 NGOs/ INGOs by UN Women, to either fully or partially cease their operations.[6] In addition, the ban will have an economic impact due to loss of livelihoods and employment opportunities as well capacity, skills and training which will worsen an already rapidly contracting economy. In addition, the Taliban have banned women from universities which further restricts women’s education – girls have already been excluded from secondary schools since the Taliban takeover. The ban on women’s employment and attending universities will further exclude women’s participation in the workforce and consequentially degrade women’s skills and negate their economic potential.
In the context of a rapidly changing Afghanistan, there is a need to produce rapid gender analysis to respond to policy windows, as and when they emerge, with the aim of ensuring that the international community does not compromise on or subordinate women’s rights to other agendas. Given the volatility of the context, a retainer expert is needed to support UN Women Afghanistan provide evidence-based analytical advice and products that draws on comparative examples.
[1] IOM appeal for Afghanistan, 26 August 2021 (https://www.iom.int/news/usd-24-million-urgently-needed-acute-humanitarian-needs-afghanistan); UNHCR, 13 August 2021 (https://www.unhcr.org/news/briefing/2021/8/611617c55/unhcr-warns-afghanistans-conflict-taking-heaviest-toll-displaced-women.html) and OCHA, Internal Displacement in Kabul, 15 August 2021: https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/flash_update_4_-_internal_displacement_-_kabul_15_aug_2021.pdf
[2] UNAMA: Afghanistan. Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict Midyear Update: 1 January to 30 June 2021 (https://unama.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/unama_poc_midyear_report_2021_26_july.pdf)
[3] OCHA, June 2021 (https://www.unocha.org/story/daily-noon-briefing-highlights-afghanistan-3)
[4] Gender Development Index (GDI), United Nations Development Programme (http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/Country-Profiles/AFG.pdf)
[5] https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=27384&LangID=E
[6] https://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2023/01/gender-alert-no-3
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