Afghan Women and Girl's Survival Fund

According to the UN, the Taliban has prohibited Afghan women from entering UN offices and compounds since September 2025. This ban is only one in a litany of laws and restrictions that form part of the Taliban’s systematic removal of women from employment in public service, civil society, and many other forms of paid employment. 

MADRE and our global partners are working to ensure Afghan women can continue to lead in the human rights space, even under the heavy weight of the Taliban’s draconian bans. In 2025, MADRE worked with a local partner to deliver a five-day emergency training to a group of women’s human rights defenders and civil society leaders in Kabul, Afghanistan. The participants were representatives of national, women-led nonprofits facing potential closure following the Taliban’s renewed ban on women civil society workers. The training was designed to build sustainability, safety, and resilience skills for advocates to continue pushing for human rights protections in Afghanistan’s increasingly hostile environment. Participants left with practical advocacy action plans integrating engagement, advocacy, and risk management strategies. Following the training, one participant reflected on the toll of living under gender apartheid: 

“For the first time in two years, I sat with other women leaders and shared our fears and hopes. That in itself was empowering.”

Another shared that the training “was like oxygen,” continuing,

 “It reminded me that we still have power, even if we have to be very strategic in how we use it.”

By equipping these advocates with tools to continue their work safely, MADRE and our global partners protect the lives, safety, and agency of women’s human rights defenders who are at risk of persecution. Your donations make this critical work possible–thank you!