Region:Asia PacificCurrent UN Women Plan Period Afghanisthan:2018-2022
World Bank Income Classification:Low IncomeThe World Bank classifies economies for analytical purposes into four income groups: low, lower-middle, upper-middle, and high income. For this purpose it uses gross national income (GNI) per capita data in U.S. dollars, converted from local currency using the World Bank Atlas method, which is applied to smooth exchange rate fluctuations.Least Developed Country:YesSince 1971, the United Nations has recognized LDCs as a category of States that are deemed highly disadvantaged in their development process, for structural, historical and also geographical reasons. Three criteria are used: per capita income, human assets, and economic vulnerability.Gender Inequality Index:0.575GII is a composite metric of gender inequality using three dimensions: reproductive health, empowerment and the labour market. A low GII value indicates low inequality between women and men, and vice-versa.Gender Development Index:0.723GDI measures gender inequalities in achievement in three basic dimensions of human development: health, education, and command over economic resources.
Population:209,497,025Source of population data: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2022). World Population Prospects: The 2022 RevisionMale:19,976,265 (9.5%)Female:189,520,760 (90.5%)
By the end of 2025, more people in Afghanistan can participate in an increasingly socially cohesive, gender equal, and inclusive society, where the rule of law and human rights are progressively upheld, and more people can fully, equally, and safely participate in governance and decision-making.
Activity DetailsResourcesOutcome Indicators and ResultsStrategic Note Outcome Progress NoteDocuments
Outcome details
SDG alignment
Impact areas
Organizational outputs
Policy markerGENDER EQUALITY
Humanitarian scopeNo
UN system function
Outcome Description
Related UNSF Output 3.1: Formal and informal governance mechanisms, community-based institutions, and decision-making platforms are more inclusive, responsive, accountable, and better able to contribute to social cohesion and reconciliation.
Related UNSF Output 3.3: Communities, civil society organizations, vulnerable groups, women, and other relevant stakeholders, are more aware of and better able to promote and protect their human rights, aligned with international norms and standards, and mitigate threats to their safety and wellbeing.
Resources
Planned Budget
Actual Budget
Planned Budget
Actual Budget and Shortfall
Expenses
Outcome Indicator and ResultsPlan Period :
2023-2025
OUTCOME
AFG_D_1.3
By the end of 2025, more people in Afghanistan can participate in an increasingly socially cohesive, gender equal, and inclusive society, where the rule of law and human rights are progressively upheld, and more people can fully, equally, and safely participate in governance and decision-making.
AFG_D_1.3A
AFG_D_1.3A
Country
Score in (i) Gender Inequality Index and (ii) Global Gender Gap Index scores. (Proxy for SDG indicator 5.1.1)
2025
Result-
AFG_D_1.3A
Country
2022
Baseline
(i) 0.678 (167 out of 191 countries); (ii) 0.435 (146 out of 146 countries)(i) 0.678 (167 out of 191 countries); (ii) 0.435 (146 out of 146 countries)
2023
Milestone
Improvement on bothImprovement on both
Result
i. 167/170 ii. 0.405i. 167/170 ii. 0.405
2024
Milestone
Improvement on bothImprovement on both
Result
--
2025
Target
Improvement on bothImprovement on both
Result
--
AFG_D_1.3B
AFG_D_1.3B
Country
Annual growth rate of direct, flexible, core and long-term funding from all sectors committed to civil society organizations working on gender equality and women’s empowerment, including women’s organizations. (Non-SDG indicator)
2025
Result-
AFG_D_1.3B
Country
2023
Baseline
26%26%
2023
Milestone
3% increase3% increase
Result
38%38%
2024
Milestone
7% increase7% increase
Result
--
2025
Target
10% increase10% increase
Result
--
SP_D_0.6.3
SP_D_0.6.3
Country
Number of countries demonstrating use of gender statistics, analysis, and policy relevant research (CO, RO, HQ)
Complementary indicators are identified as those in the results framework
that are not repeated verbatim in the results framework of another United Nations entity, but are related or provide
different but complementary lenses or insights into the same issue, high-level result and/or area of complementary work,
such as a Sustainable Development Goal target.
Complementary
UNICEF
2025
Result-
SP_D_0.6.3
Country
2022
Baseline
00
2023
Milestone
88
Result
1212
2024
Milestone
1010
Result
2025
Target
1010
Result
--
SP_D_1.1
UN Women reports on this indicator in a global scope, signified by "(Desk Review)" at the end of the indicator statement (see the Our Global Results page for the global result)
SP_D_1.1
Country
SDG 5.5.1: Proportion of seats held by women in (a) national parliaments, (b) local governments and (c) executive positions/ministers (cabinets) held by women (Desk Review)
SDG
Goal 5
Common indicators are those that appear verbatim the same in at least two
entities' results frameworks and are drawn, where possible, directly from other globally agreed frameworks.
Strategic Note Outcome Progress NoteShowing data of :
2023
By the end of 2025, more people in Afghanistan can participate in an increasingly socially cohesive, gender equal, and inclusive society, where the rule of law and human rights are progressively upheld, and more people can fully, equally, and safely participate in governance and decision-making.
During 2023, in a context where the de facto authorities (DFA) continued to enforce and promulgate restrictions on women's rights to work, education, and freedom of movement, progress against this outcome remained limited.
UN Women Afghanistan continued its efforts to ensure that more women and girls in Afghanistan can participate in an increasingly socially cohesive, equal and inclusive society, through promoting gender as a central focus of the humanitarian response and increasing the participation and voice of women in decision-making.
On the Humanitarian front:
UN Women and its partners monitored the effects of the December 2022 ban on Afghan women working for I/NGOs and provided substantive gender analysis to inform programme design, contributing to the evidence base for aid agencies to recognize the centrality of gender and protection in the protracted crisis occurring on the ground. By the end of 2023, the Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan emphasized the need to address gender issues in all aspects of the humanitarian response.
The ACO also promoted the participation of women and women’s CSOs at all stages of the project planning process, particularly through the Women’s Advisory Group to the Humanitarian Country team (HCT in Afghanistan. They played a crucial role in advancing gender equality, promoting social cohesion, and upholding human rights during 2023, ultimately contributing to advancing the progress on this outcome. [1]
On advancing Women, Peace and Security Agenda:
UN Women contributed to creating spaces for Afghan women to safely participate in international governance and decision-making. Specific results achieved in 2023 include:
Contribution to securing strong language around women’s participation in Resolution 2721, passed by the Security Council to act upon the recommendations of the Independent Assessment on Afghanistan. Language was secured around the full, equal, and safe participation of Afghan women in any current or future engagement formats or intra-Afghan dialogue processes. The pathways to women’s participation are embedded in UN Women’s quarterly consultation cycle and the ability to create spaces for Afghan women to brief the international community.
Amplification of the voices of diverse Afghan women inside the country through the creation of a meaningful consultation cycle, in collaboration with IOM and UNAMA, to ensure that their priorities and policy recommendations influence international decision-making vis-à-vis Afghanistan, establishing a foundation for operationalization of the participation pillar of the WPS agenda.
Shaped international norms through convening an Expert Group Meeting on international strategies and tools that offered insights on how the international community can better respond, through the creation of new tools (‘gender apartheid’) and enhanced use of existing tools, to an unprecedented women’s rights crisis.
Supported 13 Afghan women-led/gender-focused organizations to advance women’s rights at the national and sub-national levels through activities related to building social cohesion in communities, documenting the status of women and girls in Afghanistan, providing protection services to women human rights defenders, coalition-building among Afghan women and strengthening the organizational capacity of grassroots women-led CSOs.
Created an enabling environment for women’s leadership through investing in protection services for WHRDs under threat, in a context where all protection infrastructure has been abolished.
On Strengthened institutional and organizational resilience of partners, including rebuilding and strengthening women’s organizations and the women’s movement.
ACO modalities deployed in this pursuit included:
Partnering with 86 WCSOs (US$1.785m funded).
Contracting 36 women’s organizations , via the Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF) (grants of up to $200k).
Partnering with 35 organizations and businesses in four thematic portfolios (Programme Thematic Funding).
Capacity-building and technical support to ensure that women-led CSOs have the necessary support and funding in a complex and constrained operational environment and that they could continue to operate and strengthen their capacity for longer-term sustainability.
On Communication and Advocacy Fronts:
UN Women continued its strong focus on delivering robust communications outputs in support of its mandate in Afghanistan. Among endeavours toward this end undertaken over the course of 2023 stand several actions aimed at achieving an Afghanistan that is more cohesive, equitable and stable, and which serves the prevailing needs of its citizens:
Mission to Faizabad : In collaboration with UNHCR and FAO, the ACO conducted a field visit to Faizabad, Badakhshan province, where a women’s market is to be established. The UN Women Deputy Country Representative joined the mission to show solidarity with Afghan women, listen to their challenges and explore ways in which UN Women can support them.
High-Level Mission : In January 2023, at the request of the UN Secretary-General, the Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, Executive Director of UN Women, Sima Bahous, and Assistant Secretary-General of the Department of Political, Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, Khaled Khiari undertook a four-day visit to Afghanistan to appraise the situation in country, engage with the DFA, and underscore UN solidarity with the Afghan people. Relevant statements can be found here and here .
Gender analysis publications: Thought leadership and consolidation of UN Women as the ‘go-to’ actor for analysis on women’s rights in Afghanistan. Key outputs in this regard:
G ender Alerts on Afghan women working in NGOs and women’s rights under the Taliban .
Rapid-response Gender Updates on the Herat earthquakes ( 10 and 21 October) and Afghan returnees ( 14 November and 10 December ).
7 Gender in Humanitarian Action (GiHA) Snapshots on the impacts of the bans on Afghan women workers.
Expert Group Meeting gathering Afghan women and international legal and political experts to reflect upon and build understanding around ‘gender apartheid’, and the legal and political implications of using this term in the Afghan context.
Consultations with IOM and UNAMA on Afghan women’s perspectives, to inform policy, programming and decision-making (see the summary reports for Q1 , Q2 , Q3 , Q4 ).
The inter-agency Afghanistan Rapid Gender Analysis [1] , produced via the GiHA Working Group, with the GenCap entity. The document provides a snapshot, as of September 2023, of the prevailing situation for women, men, girls, and boys in Afghanistan, in an effort to increase understanding of the gendered impact of the humanitarian crisis.
A flyer on the situation following the series of major earthquakes that struck Herat province in October 2023 (also published via the UN Women Asia-Pacific website): Infographic: UN Women’s Response to Herat Earthquake
[1] GiHA. Afghanistan Rapid Gender Analysis 2023 .
[1] OCHA. 2023. Humanitarian Response Plan: Afghanistan . Humanitarian Programme Cycle 2023. March 2023.
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Strategic Note (SN) Development Results and Resources Framework
Intended ultimate beneficiaries, Conditions, Budget, Results, outcomes and outputs
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World Bank Income Classification:Low Income
The World Bank classifies economies for analytical purposes into four income groups: low, lower-middle, upper-middle, and high income. For this purpose it uses gross national income (GNI) per capita data in U.S. dollars, converted from local currency using the World Bank Atlas method, which is applied to smooth exchange rate fluctuations.
