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.

The women’s rights landscape in Afghanistan continued to worsen during 2024, with a tightly interwoven patchwork of DFA decrees, policies and practices systematically rolling back progress on women’s rights hard-won over decades, characterized as “gender persecution” [1] and “gender apartheid”. [2] Bearing the disproportionate impact of actions based on restrictive DFA reading of sharia law, women and girls in Afghanistan remain largely confined to the home , increasing their vulnerability to domestic violence, exploitation and abuse, and lack sufficient access to services, including access to justice to redress and deter violations of their rights. Women and girls remained excluded from education and governance , and their access to employment and infrastructure (e.g. public spaces, public transport) was severely curtailed. The ban on women accessing tertiary healthcare courses, issued in late 2024, marks further erosion in education access. Announced in August 2024, the PVPV Law codified existing decrees and edicts limiting women’s and girls’ basic human rights and freedoms, while introducing further measures, such as banning the female voice from public and public transport use without a mahram . This ‘moral law’ also targets men as well as ethnic minority groups, some of whom have traditionally been relatively open to women’s agency and leadership. All leadership positions within the DFA structure are held by males , entrenching norms of male dominance. [3] Examples of women rising within this structure are rare; and are not a substitute for legitimate, formal pathways to women’s political participation and representation. In this context, the ACO continued efforts to ensure that more women and girls can participate in an increasingly cohesive, equal and inclusive society , enacting principled ‘by women, for women’ engagement in humanitarian response and increasing the participation and voice of women in decision-making. Examples of key results achieved by the ACO under Outcome AFG_D_1.3 during 2024 are presented below, grouped by overarching area. Guiding humanitarian response Monitored the gendered impact of the DFAs bans and restrictions to provide substantive gender analysis to inform programme design (in collaboration with key partners), boosting the evidence base for aid providers to recognize the centrality of gender and protection in the crises. The Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for 2025 emphasized the need to address gender issues in all aspects of the response. Promoted participation of women and women’s CSOs at all stages of the response planning process , particularly through the Women’s Advisory Group (WAG) to the HCT. The WAG played a crucial role in advancing gender equality, promoting women’s rights through amplifying women’s voices by fostering meaningful engagement with humanitarian leadership, donors and other key stakeholders, spurring broad progress. Advanced GEWE in the humanitarian response, via the GiHA WG . Leading system-wide capacity-building, the ACO enhanced stakeholder technical expertise and informed programming through gender analyses and data-driven knowledge products. Prioritizing women’s inclusion and meaningful participation throughout the programme cycle, GiHA WG advocacy significantly strengthened gender-responsive capacity, embedding gender perspectives into humanitarian actions and addressing the unique needs and rights of each beneficiary group. Advancing the Women, Peace and Security agenda Amplified the voices of diverse women in Afghanistan via meaningful regular consultations (in collaboration with IOM and UNAMA), ensuring their priorities and policy recommendations influence international decision-making on the future of their state and setting a base for operationalization of the participation pillar of the WPS agenda. New methods of consultations piloted and scaled included engaging women advocates in rural areas and AI-generated digital dialogue tools in hard-to-reach areas, boosting results and providing guidance for conducting consultations in extremely restrictive contexts. The joint consultation rounds reached 3,243 women and 197 men during 2024. Supported Afghan women-led/gender-focused organizations to advance women’s rights at national and sub-national level by building community cohesion, documenting the status of women and girls, providing protection services to women human rights defenders (WHRDs), coalition-building among women and boosting the capacity of grassroots women-led CSOs. A total 64 organizations were supported by the ACO during 2024. Fostered an enabling environment for women’s leadership through protection services for WHRDs under threat, providing vital support in a context where the protection infrastructure has been dismantled. Launched the Afghan Women Tables to counter extreme exclusion of Afghan women from international decision-making, including piloting the Remesh digital dialogue tool (in collaboration with UNAMA and DPPA Innovation Cell). Facilitated Afghan women to participate in regional forums , including the Asia-Pacific Beijing+30 where 4 women participated (3 supported by the ACO, 1 supported by the ROAP) and the Central Asian Women’s Forum (2 women supported by the ACO). The ACO played a pivotal role in reintegrating Afghan women’s civil society representatives into key regional discussions, enabling Afghan women to present their views and policy recommendations to key decision makers. Held the second Expert Group Meeting on International Strategies and Tools to Address the Situation of Women and Girls in Afghanistan, building upon the first EGM (held in 2023) to continue the momentum to create spaces for critical policy discussions and the operationalization of normative frameworks. Strengthening institutional and organizational resilience of partners Partnered with 241 women’s organizations, providing critical financial support and programming funds, and tailored capacity-building and mentorship to ensure women-led CSOs continue to operate and navigate a complex and constrained operational environment, while increasing their capacity for long-term sustainability. Boosting communication and advocacy The Hard Talk Series advanced GEWE via six virtual dialogues, fostering cooperation and strategic partnerships among allies and champions of women’s rights, covering themes/outcomes such as: Principled vs. Pragmatic Engagement : How stakeholders can navigate accountability while maintaining relationships with the DFA. Operational Challenges and Resilience : Identifying barriers such as the atomization of donor engagement and proposing coordinated solutions. Gender Inclusion in Humanitarian Efforts : Practical measures to ensure Afghan women and girls’ participation despite restrictive environments. Gender analysis publications consolidated UN Women as thought leader and the ‘go-to’ actor for analysis on women’s rights in Afghanistan. Details of key analyses are presented in the final bullet points of the Impact 1 section above . [1] OHCHR. 2023. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan and the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls. Country Reports. 15 June 2023. A/HRC/53/21. [2] References to “gender apartheid” have been made by, among others: UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres ( January 2023 ); High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell ( February 2023 ); Special Rapporteur for Afghanistan, Richard Bennett ( March 2023 ); Gehrig, M. and C Williscroft, C. 2024. Afghanistan Gender Country Profile 2024 . UN Women Afghanistan; for a more extensive list of instances of usage see footnote 41 of the Afghanistan Gender Country Profile 2024 . [3] UN Women. 2024. see page 49 of the Afghanistan Gender Country Profile 2024

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.