Rebuilding the women’s movement in Afghanistan, one organization at a time

In Mazar, Balkh Province, 30-year-old Najiba* had established a women’s organization in 2019 and was working as a manager at a private company. But after losing her job following the Taliban takeover, she decided to focus her energy on her organization.

With support from UN Women since January 2024, Najiba can now pay her 10 employees, who hadn’t earned any income since joining. She says training on management, monitoring and proposal-writing have all been extremely helpful.

“We now have a lot of information, which has opened a window of hope for us, especially on safeguarding [beneficiaries from risks] – a topic we learned about for the first time. Trainings on how to make policies and define our goals have also helped us refine and make ours more professional,” says Najiba.

In Baghlan, 23-year-old former medical student Kamela* is a programme officer with a women-led organization dedicated to capacity-building for women and youth, who also received training from UN Women on project management.

“A key lesson I took from the training is my value as a programme manager. Employees have power and I must recognize my power and that what I am doing is really important,” says Kamela.

“The training motivates us to do more. … we’re starting from the ground-up to help each other. UN Women is so supportive, regularly coming to our office to coach us. They tell us that we are doing good, then tell us how we can do things even better. They tell us how to be more impactful with our actions and guide us step-by-step and face-to-face. When we go to the UN Women office, they convey knowledge in a way that really motivates us.”

According to UN Women Special Representative in Afghanistan Alison Davidian, supporting women-led grass-roots organizations is not only helping to keep them afloat but preparing them for future larger-scale work: “This is UN Women’s value added – our commitment to investing in women’s organizations, not only financially but through long-term, consistent technical investment and capacity-building to ensure their success, motivate them and promote their sustainability.”

As of May 2024, the “Rebuilding the Women’s Movement in Afghanistan” flagship programme has partnered with 113 organizations in 19 provinces and supported at least 515 women earn salaries. This programme is made possible through the generous support of donors including: the Governments of Austria, Belgium, Canada, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

* Names, locations, and details changed to protect the identity of the protagonists. They are also not shown in the accompanying photos.