Afghan Women's Support Forum

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 […]

Kavya Keshavamurthy | September 5, 2025 A powerful 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck Afghanistan’s mountainous northeast province of Kunar on August 31st, leaving devastation in its wake. The Taliban has confirmed a death toll of over 2,200 people, although this number is continuing to rise as rescue teams race against time to reach survivors still trapped under rubble. […]

United Nations, New York, 5 September 2025 – Some 11,600 pregnant women are estimated to have been impacted by the earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan on 31 August, which was followed by several aftershocks. Within hours of the strike, UNFPA, the UN sexual and reproductive health agency, deployed emergency response and mobile health teams to affected […]

Women who fled when the Taliban regained power are on a mission to be selected to represent their country. By Rob Harris, sports correspondent, and Jacquie Beltrao, sports presenter. Far from home – at the St George’s Park home of the Lionesses – female footballers from Afghanistan have been reunited. https://news.sky.com/story/meet-the-women-who-never-gave-up-on-football-now-hoping-to-secure-their-place-on-an-afghan-squad-13421076 Finally, they are playing […]

Amid the Taliban’s strict decrees in Afghanistan, the Afghan women shared their ordeal of being ignored by male rescuers after two deadly earthquakes jolted the country, killing more than 2,200 people. The rescue workers helped men and children, but women were pushed aside. It is because Taliban laws forbid physical touch between unrelated men and […]

11 August 2025 Women UN News Global perspective Human stories In 2021, an Afghan woman could have run for president – although none did. Spool forward to 2025, they can’t even speak in public. There is an edict from the Taliban which labels public speaking by women a moral violation.   Four years after Taliban fighters retook […]

Mahjooba Nowrouzi BBC Afghan Service, in Kabul High on a hill in the west of the Afghan capital, Kabul, behind a steel gate topped with barbed wire, lies a place few locals speak of, and even fewer visit. The women’s wing of a mental health centre run by the Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) is […]

7 August 2025 Women The international community must provide greater support to Afghan women and girl returnees from Iran and Pakistan who face increased risk of impoverishment, early marriage and growing threats to their rights and safety.   UN Women – which champions gender empowerment and equality – alongside the international humanitarian agency CARE International and partners, issued […]

The Taliban is increasingly banning women from the public sphere, but they refuse to give up on their dreams. 6/8/24 – THE INDEPENDANT For Sodaba, like countless other Afghan women, opportunities evaporated under the Taliban‘s tightening grip on their lives. Since seizing power in Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban has systematically imposed a sweeping array of restrictions on women, barring them […]

Those who fled Afghanistan fearing gender apartheid have been forced back to live in a society in which, without a male ‘guardian’, they cannot work or rent a home, leaving them in poverty and open to abuse. Read original post in THE GUARDIAN and ZEN TIMES – 4/8/25 https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/aug/04/afghan-women-refugees-iran-taliban-gender-rights-poverty-abuse Safia* thought she had finally found […]

Organised by The Rahela Trust Come join us at The Riverview Room, Scott House, 23 Circus Road West, London, SW11 8EH for a night of creativity and giving back! Tue, 29 Jul 2025 17:00 – 22:00 BST Our Art Exhibition & Fundraiser will feature amazing works of art from talented artists, all for a good […]

The bestselling British author Kate Mosse shares her inspiring email exchange with a brave female writer living under Afghanistan’s brutal regime When the British novelist Kate Mosse taught an online class to female writers in Kabul last November, organised by the UK-based organisation Untold Narratives, she couldn’t stop thinking about how different their lives were […]

1 May 2025 – UN News Global perspective Human stories Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have followed through on decrees aimed at erasing women from public life in the country and restricting their freedom of movement, the UN mission to the country (UNAMA) said in its latest human rights report published on Thursday covering the first quarter of 2025. […]

The Association of Afghan Healthcare Professionals UK warmly invites you to “Health, Hope and Heritage” — a heartfelt celebration of community, culture, and care. This special evening brings together Afghan healthcare professionals, students, and families to honour the resilience of our people, the strength of our heritage, and the hope we carry into the future. […]

Join us for a groundbreaking and transformative gathering of Afghan women, visionary scholars, policymakers, and powerful activists as we confront challenges, break barriers, and shape an unshakable future for women’s education, strength, justice, and unstoppable leadership. And celebrate The Rahela Trust’s 10th Anniversary. To get more information about The Rahela Trust – and to register […]

The situation in Afghanistan worsened in 2024 as the Taliban authorities intensified their crackdown on human rights, particularly against women and girls. Afghanistan remained the only country where girls and women were banned from secondary and university education, while also facing significant barriers to employment and freedom of movement, assembly, and speech. The Taliban also […]

By Reuters January 20, 20257:53 AM GMTU KABUL, Jan 20 (Reuters) – The Taliban’s acting deputy foreign minister called on his senior leadership to open schools for Afghan girls, among the strongest public rebukes of a policy that has contributed to the international isolation of its rulers. Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, who previously led a team […]

Malala Yousafzai has urged Muslim leaders to challenge the Taliban government in Afghanistan and its repressive policies for girls and women. “Simply put, the Taliban in Afghanistan do not see women as human beings,” she told an international summit hosted by Pakistan on girls education in Islamic countries. Ms Yousafzai told Muslim leaders there was […]

Book launch – January 17th, 2025. Ten women from Afghanistan and Iran share their ideas, emotions, desires and worldviews with lovers of poetry.