Brief: “We as women’s groups can find women in need when organisations can’t.”

Since their takeover in 2021, the de facto authorities (DFA) have introduced several directives limiting women’s access to education, employment, health services and public spaces. In December 2022, the ban prohibiting Afghan women from working for NGOs – later expanded to UN agencies in April 2023 – impeded access to aid and support for vulnerable women throughout the country. Although some NGOs and UN agencies navigated the decree through local exceptions and continued regular operations, 2023 saw the introduction of new bans further reducing support for projects aiming to reach women and girls.

In September 2023, the Afghanistan Humanitarian Response Plan was critically underfunded, with half of the amount received at the same time in 2022. Under these conditions, for example, the World Food Programme had to cut food assistance to two million people in need. Against this backdrop, engaging with women and men is critical to ensuring the humanitarian response is tailored to their respective needs and priorities. To strengthen accountability to women and girls in Afghanistan, in September 2023, Ground Truth Solutions and Salma Consulting completed our third round of data collection with support from UN Women and the Gender in Humanitarian Action Working Group.