Afghanistan

Afghanistan Update June 2026

Women for Women International has made the difficult decision to close its Country Office and end direct program implementation in Afghanistan.

We are immensely proud and grateful to our Afghanistan team for their courage, commitment and resilience. We express our sincere thanks to the donors and partners whose support has helped make this work possible over the years.

Since 2002, we have reached over 146,000 women and girls across multiple provinces in Afghanistan, providing them with the tools, knowledge and resources to rebuild their lives and support their families. We remain dedicated to supporting them and local organizations.

We remain committed to the women and girls of Afghanistan and to ensuring that our global community stands in solidarity with them, responds to their needs, honors their strength, and elevates their voices.

Read our full statement

About Afghanistan

Over the past century, Afghan women have lived through dramatic shifts between periods of reform and severe repression. Since August of 2021, the social and economic outlook for Afghan women has worsened:

• Millions of women in Afghanistan have little or no access to healthcare.
• Women are prohibited from working in most sectors, cutting off vital income for families.
• Girls are barred from attending school beyond 6th grade, and universities are closed to women.
• Women face severe restrictions on movement and are often not allowed in parks, gyms, or other public venues.
• Intimate partner violence and early and forced marriage is prevalent. 

Our Work in Afghanistan 

Despite the upending of women’s access to education, employment, and personal freedoms, Women for Women International’s locally led team continues to deliver in areas where permission has been granted. We still see remarkable fortitude among the women we serve as they strive for self-sufficiency and financial independence.

“Today, I feel like a fortunate person. I have my own business, and I have become a self-sufficient woman."

-Nasima, Stronger Women, Stronger Nations Participant

Since 2002, we have operated in five provinces of Afghanistan. Participants of our Stronger Women, Stronger Nations program (SWSN) receive vocational training for jobs like tailoring and knitting, animal husbandry, participating in savings and self-help groups, and learn to invest in their businesses as they receive stipends. Throughout this curriculum, they receive an income and grow their own savings. They are also trained by local staff on how to influence decision making in their households, and support social change in their communities.

Our Impact

• Since 2002, a total of 146,427 Afghan women and girls have been reached.
• 3,125 women and girls graduated in 2025.  
• The percentage of women involved in decisions about family planning doubled during the course of the program, from 32% at the start to 65% at graduation. 
• Since inception, our local team has reached 6,677 men through our Men’s Engagement Program. 

Ferhana’s story

Four years ago, Ferhana graduated from the Stronger Women, Stronger Nations program in Afghanistan, and it changed everything for her. Women for Women International supported her burgeoning jewellery business, so that she could set up a shop. It provided a vital source of income since Ferhana is the sole breadwinner for her family. Later, she had the confidence to persuade the authorities to allow her to keep the shop open. Read more about Ferhana’s story here 

“I hope that we, as Afghan women, keep enduring and showing up for each other. We have the power to change things and I will do whatever I can to keep my shop running so that my children and also other women who work with me see a future for themselves.”

-Ferhana, Stronger Women, Stronger Nations Graduate

Report: No One Hears Our Voices

In interviews, Afghan women and women’s rights organizations describe their experiences in Afghanistan and set out their hopes for the future. In their own words, Afghan women in the report call for women’s rights, inclusion in public life, urgent economic relief, and for the international community to step up in solidarity with them.

Report: “Where I Am Going and Where I Am” - The personal and professional opportunities and challenges facing Afghan women human rights defenders outside Afghanistan.