Afghan women need the world’s help

Funding should nurture the efforts of female-led, grassroots organisations to counter the Taliban’s restrictions.

More than three years have passed since the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, a period marked by severe regression in the rights and livelihoods of Afghan women. The latest data shows that 80 per cent of Afghan women live in poverty, at least 1.4mn girls are not in school and female participation in the labour force stands at just 4.8 per cent. However, beneath the despair lies a remarkable resilience and potential — one that the international community must urgently nurture.

Afghan women have always been agents of change. Under the harshest conditions, women-led grassroots organisations — estimated by civil society observers to exceed several hundred active groups across all 34 provinces — are addressing critical needs in education, private enterprise and agriculture. Through our women-led civil society assembly, I meet monthly with about 50 of these groups, many of which now operate discreetly for safety. Even in adversity, Afghan women are carving out spaces for progress. The question is whether the world will step up to support their efforts.

The global response to the plight of Afghan women has been alarmingly inadequate. Large-scale funding often bypasses civil society NGOs and female-led organisations, favouring international entities with high overheads and limited reach on the ground. This must change. Empowering locals who already understand their communities’ needs is not just ethical — it is essential. These groups are the most capable of enacting grassroots reform.

Other practical steps can drive meaningful change. The international community must support Afghan women’s education. In rural areas, door-to-door literacy programmes enable women and girls to acquire basic reading and writing skills despite severe restrictions. Digital education offers an even greater opportunity. Artificial intelligence-driven tools can deliver personalised education directly into homes, effectively filling in the gaps created by the Taliban.

Afghan women’s economic empowerment must become a priority for the west. The Taliban has not banned women from running businesses, and licences are still issued for activities such as farming and crafts. However, logistical challenges and reduced customer bases hinder their growth. International grants and partnerships could help scale up these businesses, enabling women to sustain livelihoods and contribute to local economies.

Climate change also demands immediate focus. Droughts and resource scarcity have devastated livelihoods. Afghan women farmers require training in sustainable agricultural practices and access to climate-resilient technologies.

Equally important is fostering global connectivity. Afghan women must be equipped with digital tools to collaborate internationally and act as advocates for their rights. Online platforms can amplify their voices, turning isolation into opportunity.

While these steps are essential, governments and NGOs must continue to exert pressure on the Taliban to reverse its policies against Afghan women. The Taliban’s systematic erasure of women’s rights are an affront to human dignity. The global community cannot legitimise their actions, but neither can it afford to stand idly by, waiting for a miraculous solution. Advocacy and diplomatic pressure must persist, but they should be accompanied by immediate, pragmatic efforts to support Afghan women at the grassroots level. Policymakers and the media must engage directly with the women’s leaders and activists, ensuring their voices shape international strategies.

It is unacceptable that Afghan women bear the brunt of international failures. Yet they refuse to give up. They are not just surviving; they are finding ways to redefine their lives. Afghan women have not given up on their future. We must not give up on them.

This article was originally published by the Financial Times.

Afghan women have been abandoned – this is how you can help

The Handmaid’s Tale, the dystopian novel by Margaret Atwood, was referenced during the US presidential election as a dark symbol of how quickly rights can be stripped away. But for Afghan women, this isn’t a symbol. It is their existence.

For the past three years, women in Afghanistan have been banned from public life: schools, universities, work – even outdoor spaces. A generation of women who were once teachers, doctors, journalists and artists are now confined to the home. The full body veil has rendered them publicly invisible. In the latest edict from the Taliban, women have been ordered not to speak to each other. They are being simply erased from society.

According to UN Women, as of April 2023, about 80 per cent of school-aged girls – 2.5 million young women – were out of school, including 1.1 million secondary school-aged girls. More than 100,000 female university students were banned from education in December 2022. And about 80 per cent of suicide attempts are made by women, making it one of the few countries where female suicide rates surpass men’s.

We both know women in Afghanistan whose lives have been reduced to fading memories of freedom and women’s rights since the US-led intervention in 2001. Friends and colleagues who once laughed and dreamed just as we do tell us: “It feels like they are trying to erase us – as if our lives have disappeared, and no one notices.”

This sense of isolation, of being invisible, gnaws away at them. Afghan women have been forced back into the shadows, and their invisibility has crossed into the international sphere. It is as if the rest of the world has shrugged and looked away.

But individually, and through communities, women have noticed and do care. NGOs, charities, journalists, universities, women’s groups and book clubs would like to be allies. The thousands of messages we’ve both seen and received through social media asking how people can help Afghan women show us that there is fellow feeling – if not through governments, then through civilian populations.

That is why are launching the Friends of Afghan Women Network (FAWN), and the “Be #HerAlly” initiative, a place where people can stand shoulder to shoulder with Afghan women and show that they are not forgotten.

FAWN starts as a friendship network, a means for women in Afghanistan to converse with women outside the country. It is a way of breaking through the isolation and despair. We can all be part of it. Through FAWN, Afghan women will be paired one-on-one with someone who will offer support, mentorship, and, most importantly, companionship. For Afghan women, who are abandoned in almost every way imaginable, these friendships are way of saying: “You are not alone, and your life has value.”

The Taliban’s restrictions are in the public sphere. No one has yet created the means of controlling minds and private actions. Freedom is private and personal. Education is necessarily private and personal. Aspiration and economic advancement has to be private and personal. But friendship is shared. For the women of Afghanistan who believe they have no voice and no allies, we have to find a way of breaking through the walls of silence.

By creating connections across borders we’re not only providing direct support to Afghan women but also sending a message to governments. Afghan women will not be erased. They have a voice, and we will amplify it.

For those of us outside Afghanistan, this is an opportunity to act. We know how easy it is to feel powerless in the face of such extreme oppression. It’s tempting to turn away, to avoid confronting something so seemingly intractable. Nobody wants to be reminded of wars.

But FAWN offers a tangible way to help. Becoming a friend to an Afghan woman trapped under Taliban rule isn’t a grand gesture; it’s a simple act of solidarity. It’s the commitment to listen, to offer support, and to remind her that the world hasn’t forgotten.

We created FAWN not to be another advocacy group with big promises, but to provide something deeply personal, and – we hope – transformative. Through this network, which launches today, Wednesday, 13 November, we are showing Afghan women that they are still connected to the world and that their courage is seen and celebrated.

We invite you to be part of this mission.

Shabnam Nasimi worked as a senior policy advisor to the UK Minister for Refugees and Minister for Afghan Resettlement. She is a writer, commentator and a human rights advocate. Sarah Sands is a British journalist and author. She edited the London Evening Standard and Today on BBC Radio 4 from 2017 to 2020

Friendsofafghanwomennetwork.co.uk

This article was originally published by The i paper .