Afghanistan Appeal

Girls are banned from secondary school. Women are barred from universities, most jobs, and public spaces such as parks, gyms, and sports clubs.

78% of young Afghan women aren’t in education, employment or training. By 2026, early childbearing is projected to rise by 45%. Whilst less than 7% of Afghan women have a bank account.

UN Women is on the ground at border crossings with Iran and Pakistan, and in the communities where returnees are rebuilding their lives, working to make sure that women and girl returnees feel safe, heard and can access the information and services they need. UN Women supports women humanitarian workers who are on the frontline, playing a crucial role in reaching these women and girls. Many women and girls would miss out on accessing support if not for women humanitarian workers, as they don't feel comfortable interacting with other men. Photo: UN Women/Sayed Habib Bidell

Many women and girls affected by the earthquake in eastern Afghanistan are still struggling to access humanitarian aid and life-saving services.

UN Women is appealing for $2.5 million to expand a 6 to 12-month emergency response and recovery plan to scale up women’s participation in the response and increase access to services, in partnership with women’s organisations.

We are partnering with women-led and women-focused organisations to address the immediate needs of women and girls across Kunar province, including by providing:

  • Items such as blankets, clothing and cooking utensils, including supplies to cope with the winter cold —which is critical, given many families are still living in tents or other temporary shelter
  • Cash assistance
  • Protection services, including mental health and psychosocial support
  • Establishing women’s and girls’ safe spaces where they can meet and access humanitarian support
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Many Afghan women returnees from Iran and Pakistan have no identification, which can limit access to humanitarian support, housing or other shelter, and school for their children. Women aid workers are essential to support with paperwork and help them access essential services. Photo: UN Women/Sayed Habib Bidell.

It’s not safe to be a woman in Afghanistan.

Afghan women and girls are facing the most severe women’s rights crisis in the world.

Four years since the Taliban takeover, waves of restrictions have stripped them of their rights and dignity, and not one has been reversed.

UN Women is on the ground supporting Afghan women to meet urgent needs and to protect their rights. But we cannot do it without you.

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For Afghan women and girls returning to Afghanistan, even the journey itself can be hot, uncomfortable and dangerous. Many travel in trucks, sitting on top of their family's belongings. Women humanitarians supporting them at border crossings report hearing stories of girls travelling without their parents, and of women going into early labour along the way. Photo: UN Women/Sayed Habib Bidell

The knock at the door changed everything overnight for Noorjahan* and her family.

For the past two years, the 26-year-old Afghan woman had lived in Iran with her husband and three young sons – now aged nine, eight and six. They had moved in search of work to rebuild their lives after a fire destroyed their home in Afghanistan.

Now, the police had arrived to send them back.

“They arrested us and took us to a deportation camp,” Noorjahan recalled. After two nights in the camp and four long days of travel, the family crossed back into Afghanistan – with nothing.

“We don’t even have enough money to buy cooking gas,” she said. “It’s really difficult when you have nothing to eat and no place to live.”

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​Girls are banned from school after about age 13. Women are barred from most jobs, excluded from political life, and in many areas, forbidden from walking alone in public. Many cannot make decisions within their own households.

Maternal deaths are rising, child marriage is increasing, and violence against women is growing unchecked.

Your donation to UN Women today can deliver urgent services, defend women’s rights, and help Afghan women build a better future.

Originally published on UN Women here and here.