Brief: “We, as women's groups, can find women in need when organizations can't”

As part of its work to support the Gender in Humanitarian Action (GiHA) Working Group, UN Women commissioned Ground Truth Solutions and Salma Consulting to collect data on the current situation of women's groups in Afghanistan in 2023.

To this end, researchers spoke to 1,897 people (46 per cent of women, 54 per cent of men) through face-to-face quantitative surveys, 68 people in 10 focus group discussions, and another 15 respondents via in-depth interviews.

The data collection and brief were supported by UN Women and the GiHA Working Group in Afghanistan, as part of its mission to develop knowledge products to inform humanitarian planning processes and increase accountability for Afghan women and girls. The GIHA Working Group focuses on coordination and leadership, capacity-building and advocacy, gender assessments to shape evidence-based responses, and advising on targeted programming.

Since the Taliban takeover in 2021, the de facto authorities (DFA) have introduced several directives limiting women’s access to education, employment, health services and public spaces. The 2022 and 2023 bans prohibiting Afghan women from working for NGOs and UN agencies have impeded access to aid and support for vulnerable women throughout the country. Although some NGOs and UN agencies have been able to continue regular operations through local exceptions, new bans have further reduced support for projects aiming to reach women and girls. As of September 2023, the Afghanistan Humanitarian Response Plan was critically underfunded, at half of the amount received at the same time in 2022.

Against this backdrop, this brief underlines that engaging with women and men is critical to ensure that the humanitarian response is tailored to their respective needs and priorities.