Abstract

Women’s empowerment in Afghanistan is a critical issue for the country’s sustainable development due to structural, cultural and security constraints. The question of this research is what has been the role of international agencies in empowering Afghan women from 2001 to 2025? This research examines the role of United Nations agencies (UNICEF, UNDP, UN Women, UN Population Fund and UNHCR) in empowering Afghan women from 2001 to 2025 using Sarah Lange’s theoretical framework. This framework defines empowerment in five levels: welfare, access, awareness, participation and control. Using a qualitative method and semi-structured interviews with 15 stakeholders (5 rural women, 3 human rights activists, 4 international organization staff, and 3 government officials), this study analyzes the achievements, barriers, opportunities, and challenges of these agencies’ programs in the areas of education, employment, political participation, health, legal protection, awareness, and inclusion of marginalized groups.

The findings indicate gains in levels of well-being and access, such as 3.5 million girls returning to school by 2017 and creating business opportunities for over 65,000 women by 2019, and limited progress in participation, with 27 percent of women in parliament by 2020.