Afghanistan One Year On: This is Not the “New Normal”

In the past year, since Taliban forces took control of Afghanistan, Women for Women International has restarted its programmes in Afghanistan and has been slowly expanding across and within provinces. This is an instance where we can truly say that it was thanks to our supporters – and, of course, our dedicated and brave colleagues in Afghanistan – that we were able to continue our work at a time when most funders were suspending projects or restricting the flow of funding into the country.

Though we are immensely grateful that we have been able to continue our programming to support women inside Afghanistan, it was not without challenges – and these challenges are even greater for national women’s rights and civil society organisations struggling to maintain their crucial operations.  We also recognise that more support and comprehensive policy solutions are needed in order to fully address the humanitarian and human rights crisis still affecting Afghan citizens today.

Over the past year, Women for Women International conducted situational assessments to understand how to restart our programmes in a manner that was safest for the women participating. The situational assessments – the first conducted in December 2021 and a follow-up conducted half a year later in July 2022 – also helped us to hear from Afghan women first-hand about their experiences over the year, their top needs and priorities, and the hopes that they still have for their futures, so that we could translate their input into a policy agenda that would inform our global advocacy.

We also partnered with the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom to conduct a mapping and research with Afghan women's rights activists (WRAs) and women human rights defenders (WHRDs) who were evacuated from Afghanistan – most of them after the Taliban takeover – and who are currently residing in transit and host countries around the world. This research, available as a research report and a policy brief, sought to understand the personal and professional challenges that Afghan WRAs/WHRDs face in continuing their work and advocacy for Afghan women’s rights from outside of the country.

When asked, Afghan women inside and outside Afghanistan described the financial, security, policy and mental health challenges they face.

Inside Afghanistan, 92% of the Afghan women we surveyed in Nangarhar, Parwan, and Kunar provinces shared that – since August 2021 – their income has declined, with a quarter sharing that their income dropped to and remained at zero. Further, only 4% of Afghan women we surveyed always had enough to eat, with a little over half reporting that they often/sometimes did not have enough to eat at home (source: July 2022 "No One Hears Our Voices" Report).

After August 2021, Afghan women described feelings of isolation and despair – 92% of the women we surveyed in December 2021 indicated that they needed greater mental health and psychosocial support. A year later, they continue to share personal grief in being unable to support their children amidst the lingering humanitarian and economic crisis within Afghanistan.

We translated our situational assessment findings into concrete recommendations for action by the international community. You can find these recommendations at the end of each of our policy reports, and over the past year, we have been sharing these evidence-based recommendations with governments, institutions and partners.

Some of their top recommendations were shared in a press briefing and the key themes shared over the course of their advocacy at the UN in September included:

1. A plea for sustained urgency by the UN Security Council around negotiations for the full spectrum of women and girls’ rights inside of Afghanistan including – but not limited to – girls’ education.
2. A call for the international community to move beyond solely humanitarian solutions to the crisis. Although humanitarian assistance has often been lifesaving over the past year, it is not a sustainable solution.
   • Women’s rights organisations in Afghanistan need flexible and accessible funding to continue their work and lead the movement for Afghan women’s rights and livelihoods.
   • Sustainable solutions to the economic crisis that include vocational training programmes for women, restarting projects that create jobs for Afghan people and restarting Afghanistan’s economy and infrastructure.
3. More inclusive and transparent monitoring of the UN’s mandate and funding being spent within Afghanistan.

Afghan women remain hopeful but are critical of the limited action and progress made in the past year. And in some cases – such as the US decision to shift $3.5 billion of Afghanistan’s national assets to an “Afghan Fund” managed by the Swiss government and Afghanistan experts – there have been steps backward or missed opportunities by the international community in addressing the crisis in Afghanistan.

Over a year after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, Afghan women have overwhelmingly conveyed that the international community cannot accept the restrictions on women’s rights in Afghanistan as the ‘new normal'.

At Women for Women International, we have heard loud and clear from our programme participants that our programmes are often a vital lifeline for women and their families where we work and that more support is needed. So, we will be prioritising the continuation and safe expansion of our work inside Afghanistan through:

• Adaptations of our vocational training approach that allow women to participate safely,
• Provision of our usual monthly stipends along with emergency cash assistance which we have used over the past year to supplement stipends during the harsh winter season and following the earthquake in July,
• Staff capacity-strengthening to support them in building their resilience and any new skills they need to operate within the new and evolving working environment, and
• Supporting local partnerships with other women’s livelihoods and empowerment organisations.

We will also heed the call of Afghan women not to lose urgency in our global advocacy and allyship in the fight for Afghan women’s rights. Women for Women International will continue its advocacy to policy-makers globally around evidence-based policy recommendations and experiences from our own continued work inside of Afghanistan. In the global movement for women’s rights, we owe Afghan women our active solidarity and our sustained support. Today, tomorrow, and always, we stand with them.

Please email Nisha Singh, nsingh@womenforwomen.org, or Stephanie Siddall, ssidall@womenforwomen.org, with any questions about Women for Women International’s global or Afghanistan-related advocacy.