Afghan Women’s Plight: A Call for Global Solidarity

Afghan Women’s Plight: A Call for Global Solidarity

MOHAN KHOUND

In a world striving for gender equality, Afghanistan stands as a stark reminder of how far we have yet to go.

The UN Women’s 2024 Afghanistan Gender Index, released on June 17, 2025, paints a grim picture of the state of women’s empowerment and gender equality in the country nearly four years after the Taliban’s takeover in August 2021.

With a 76% gender gap—the second widest globally—Afghan women are realizing just 17% of their potential to make choices and access opportunities, compared to a global average of 60.7%.

This comprehensive report, supported by the European Union, underscores the systemic barriers Afghan women face in education, employment, financial inclusion, and decision-making, echoing the stories of resilience and struggle that MAHABAHU has long chronicled.

A Lost Generation: Education and Employment in Crisis

One of the most alarming findings of the UN Women report is that 78% of young Afghan women are excluded from education, employment, or training—nearly four times the rate for men. The Taliban’s bans on secondary and tertiary education for girls, including medical education, have pushed the secondary school completion rate for girls toward zero.

This educational blackout threatens to erase decades of progress, as highlighted in MAHABAHU’s 2022 article, “Silent Classrooms: The Plight of Afghan Schoolgirls” (mahabahu.com), which detailed how underground schools run by brave women educators were attempting to fill the void.

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The workforce gender gap is equally stark, with only 24% of women participating in the labor force compared to 89% of men. Afghan women are often confined to low-paid, insecure jobs or unpaid domestic work, with 74% of women spending significant time on household chores compared to just 3% of men. Yet, driven by economic and humanitarian crises, Afghan women are entering the workforce in unprecedented numbers.

The UN Women report notes that by 2022, the number of unemployed women actively seeking work had quadrupled, and employed women had doubled since the Taliban’s takeover. This resilience mirrors MAHABAHU’s 2023 feature, “Weaving Hope: Afghan Women’s Home-Based Enterprises” (mahabahu.com), which showcased women running tailoring and handicraft businesses to support their families despite restrictions.

The financial divide further compounds Afghan women’s challenges. Men are nearly three times more likely to own a bank account or use mobile money services, limiting women’s economic autonomy. MAHABAHU’s 2024 piece, “Digital Dreams: Afghan Women’s Fight for Financial Access” (mahabahu.com), explored how women in urban areas were using informal savings groups to bypass these barriers, a trend that aligns with the UN Women report’s findings on women’s ingenuity in navigating economic constraints.

Politically, Afghan women have been erased from public life, with no representation in the Taliban’s de facto Cabinet or local offices. Despite this, the report highlights their persistent advocacy for inclusive governance, as women raise concerns at national and subnational levels.

This activism resonates with MAHABAHU’s ongoing coverage of Afghan women’s rights defenders, such as our 2021 article, “Voices Unsilenced: Afghan Women’s Protests” (mahabahu.com), which celebrated the courage in the face of violent crackdowns.

UN Women’s Executive Director Sima Bahous rightly calls Afghanistan’s women and girls the country’s “greatest resource.” Despite immense restrictions, Afghan women continue to support each other’s endeavors, run businesses, deliver humanitarian aid, and speak out against injustice. Their leadership is reshaping communities, as seen in MAHABAHU’s 2023 profile of a female aid worker in Herat who organized food distribution networks for displaced women (mahabahu.com). The 2024 Afghanistan Gender Index serves as a critical tool to measure these efforts and guide international stakeholders in addressing the women’s rights crisis.

A Global Call to Action

The UN Women report is not just a statistic-laden document; it is a call to action. Afghan women’s courage demands global solidarity. MAHABAHU has long amplified their voices, from stories of midwives defying bans to deliver healthcare (“Birth in the Shadows,” 2024, mahabahu.com) to young women secretly studying online (“Learning in Hiding,” 2023, mahabahu.com).

As the UN Women report emphasizes, Afghan women are not passive victims but active agents of change. Supporting their pursuit of dignity and equality requires sustained international pressure, funding for grassroots initiatives, and platforms for their voices.

The world cannot afford to look away. As MAHABAHU continues to stand with Afghan women, we urge our readers to advocate for policies that restore their rights and amplify their aspirations. Together, we can help build an Afghanistan where women and girls thrive, not merely survive.

References: UN Women’s 2024 Afghanistan Gender Index; MAHABAHU archives (mahabahu.com).

17-06-2025

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