Afghan Women's Support Forum
ZAN TIMES reports This report has been published in partnership with the Guardian. When Fatima and her parents arrived at a district court in northern Afghanistan in late 2025 , she hoped a judge would finally allow her to get out of her calamitous marriage. She had never met her husband before their arranged wedding in […]
More Stories
Help to give Afghanistan’s women a voice by supporting Zan Times.
Amidst the Taliban war on women, Zan Times’ women-led team of journalists in Afghanistan risk their lives to report vital stories for readers. The work is both dangerous and expensive and they need support. Visit the Zan Times website for more information about its work and how to support it. Zan Times.
Taliban order ban on smartphones as officials shown destroying devices
This report has been published in partnership with the Guardian. by Zahra Nader and Aisha DownJune 18, 2026 The Taliban have ordered a sweeping ban on the use of smartphones by government officials – in what some analysts say could foreshadow broader, population-level restrictions. In a directive issued by the Taliban’s military courts and reviewed by Zan Times and […]
Condemnation of events in Herat Province
Press release: Date: 10 June 2026 We, a group of the people of Afghanistan, human rights defenders, civil society activists, journalists, academics, experts, women’s rights activists and other social groups, express our deep concern and sorrow and strongly condemn the recent bloody events in Herat province, which occurred following public protests against the Taliban’s new […]
“We are deeply concerned by the continued erosion of the rights of women, girls, and religious minorities in Afghanistan” – UK statement at the UN Security Council
Statement by Ambassador Archie Young, UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, at the UN Security Council meeting on Afghanistan. From: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and Archie Young CMG – Published 8 June 2026 Let me begin by expressing our deep appreciation to UNAMA for their work, including their latest report, which highlights the fragile and […]
Two reportedly killed as women take part in rare protest in Afghanistan
Flora Drury & BBC Afghan Taliban police used live fire to disperse a rare protest against the detention of women accused of violating strict Islamic dress codes in the western Afghan city of Herat, witnesses and protesters said. Medics told the BBC two people died, but did not specify how. A number of others at […]
Sima-Samar Award launched
Posted by: Nurjehan Mawani, C.M, LL.D (Hon) Senior Fellow and Chair in Global Engagement – Massey College |Governor – International Development Research Centre (IDRC) I am thrilled to share the launch of the #Sima_Samar_Award – a global recognition of those who demonstrate extraordinary courage in defending democracy, human dignity, and civic freedoms. Created by Resilient […]
Cancer care in Afghanistan: A comprehensive analysis of opportunities and challenges in a low-income and conflict-affected country.
The full text of this paper can be accessed HERE: Abstract The main purpose of this study was to assess the cancer prevention and control capacity in Afghanistan. The study utilized the WHO/IAEA National Cancer Control Programmes (NCCP) Core Capacity Self-Assessment Tool to evaluate Afghanistan’s cancer control capacity, shortages, and priorities. Data collection involved site […]
Five questions on the status of women’s and girls’ rights in Afghanistan
Kay Summers May 5, 2026 The Taliban regained power in Afghanistan in August 2021, twenty years after their ouster by U.S. troops. Since then, all the progress for women made over the course of the U.S. occupation has been reversed, resulting in strict, fundamentalist rules, ongoing economic turmoil and severe restrictions on employment and education for women […]
Wife of local singer killed in attack in Badakhshan
The wife of Salam Matftoon, a local singer, was shot and killed by unidentified gunmen in the northeastern province of Badakhshan, local sources said, in the latest in a series of killings reported across the country in recent days. Sources told Amu TV that that the incident happened early Thursday morning in Ishkashim district when […]
Afghan women face deepening hunger, isolation, report says
Women and girls in Afghanistan are facing a rapidly deepening humanitarian crisis marked by hunger, economic desperation, worsening health care access and growing social isolation, according to a major new gender analysis released by humanitarian organizations working in the country. The report, produced by the Afghanistan Gender Coordination Group with support from UN agencies, says […]
“We are appalled by the continued restrictions imposed on the women and girls of Afghanistan” -UK statement at the UN Security Council
Statement by The Rt Hon Baroness Smith of Malvern, Minister of State (Minister for Skills) and Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities) at the UN Security Council meeting on Afghanistan. Colleagues, let me first begin by expressing the United Kingdom’s deep concern at the intensification of the Taliban’s repression. We are appalled by […]
Press briefing by UN Women on the impact of recent hostilities, Decree No. 12 and the widening justice gap for women and girls in Afghanistan
Remarks by UN Women Afghanistan Special Representative, Susan Ferguson, at UN Headquarters in New York, speaking from Kabul. For women and girls in Afghanistan, 2026 was already proving to be an extremely difficult year. Now, with the conflict in the Middle East and on-going hostilities with Pakistan, many are facing even more trauma and hardship. […]
UN Women Afghanistan statement on Decree No. 12 issued by the de facto authorities
Statement by UN Women Special Representative in Afghanistan, Susan Ferguson. Kabul, Afghanistan – The latest decree issued by the de facto authorities in Afghanistan further diminishes the rights of women and girls and exposes them to even greater risk of violence. Page Navigation […]
The Taliban wages war on women, but their voices roar on the page. Here are five essential books by Afghan women writers.
There is something profoundly defiant, almost incendiary, about Afghan women writers. When the Taliban regained control of Kabul in August 2021, images of women protesting in the streets and girls being barred from classrooms circulated around the world. Since then, regressive laws have been introduced as part of the systemic suppression of women’s public life in Afghanistan, including banning women […]
Afghan women lose their ‘last hope’ as Taliban shuts down internet.
Mahfouz Zubaide Afghanistan producer Fahima Noori had big dreams when she graduated from university in Afghanistan. She had studied law, graduated from a midwifery programme and even worked in a mental health clinic. But all that was taken away when the Taliban swept into power in 2021. They banned girls over the age of 12 […]
‘My three boys starved to death. I hope angels bring them home’, says Afghan mother.
Yogita Limaye BBC South Asia and Afghanistan correspondent Gusts of wind blew dust up off the ground as Ghulam Mohiddin and his wife Nazo walked towards the graveyard where all their children are buried. They showed us the graves of the three boys they lost in the past two years – one-year-old Rahmat, seven-month-old Koatan […]
Taliban ban books written by women from Afghan universities.
Ali Hussaini BBC Afghan The Taliban government has removed books written by women from the university teaching system in Afghanistan as part of a new ban which has also outlawed the teaching of human rights and sexual harassment. Some 140 books by women – including titles like “Safety in the Chemical Laboratory” – were among […]
‘My wife died giving birth after Trump cut funding to our clinic’.
14th September, 2025 Yogita Limaye BBC South Asia and Afghanistan correspondent When Shahnaz went into labour, her husband Abdul called a taxi to take them to the only medical facility accessible to them. “She was in a lot pain,” he says. A 20-minute drive away, the clinic was in Shesh Pol village in Afghanistan’s north-eastern […]
Afghanistan: New restrictions on women nationals working for UN, put aid efforts at risk.
11 September 2025 Women The United Nations in Afghanistan called on Thursday for the de facto Taliban authorities to lift restrictions barring women national staff from entering its premises. These measures are putting life-saving humanitarian assistance and other essential services for hundreds of thousands of people affected by a recent deadly earthquake at risk, the UN Assistance Mission […]