Breaking Barriers: The Struggle and Contributions of Afghan Women to Sustainability

Authors

  • Freeman Mateko University of South Africa

Keywords:

Economic development; poverty; religion; sustainable development goals; women

Abstract

In spite of structural obstacles, how do women in Afghanistan contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals and what part do they play in advancing progress? Objectives: This study looked at the difficulties faced by Afghan women and how they contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, which include hunger, poverty, economic growth, renewable energy, education, and peace. Approach: Previous studies have highlighted the significant barriers Afghan women face in accessing education, employment, financial resources, and decision-making opportunities. Google Scholar and Scopus were two of the online repositories from which the literature was obtained. The study employed a qualitative approach, and the data was analyzed using content analysis. Results: It was discovered that women face gender-based abuse, lack financial resources, are denied access to educational opportunities, are prohibited from registering enterprises, and are prohibited from working. It was also established that women in Afghanistan participate in areas, such as peacekeeping and security, creating employment, and are involved in the renewable energy sector, food production and food security, and reducing gender-based violence. Implications: The findings imply that excluding women from education, employment, entrepreneurship, and decision-making undermines Afghanistan’s progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals Value: Regarding policy recommendations, it is suggested that social security programmes, improved governance, and educational support are essential for supporting women and girls in Afghanistan.

References

Abbassy, S. (2024). Breaking barriers: A policy brief on advancing gender equality for economic resilience in Afghanistan. Cognizance Journal, 4(1), 396–403. https://doi.org/10.47760/cognizance.2024.v04i01.019

Agboola, M., & Balcilar, M. (2012). Impact of food security on urban poverty: A case study of Lagos State, Nigeria. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 62, 1225–1229. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.09.209

Ahmadi, B., & Sultan, H. (2023). Taking a terrible toll: The Taliban’s education ban. United States Institute of Peace. https://www.usip.org/publications/2023/04/taking-terrible-toll-talibans-education-ban

Ahmed, N., Tasmin, M., & Ibrahim, S. (2022). Technology for empowerment: Context of urban Afghan women. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0160791X22001993

Akseer, N., Bhatti, Z., Marshal, T., Soofi, S., Moinedin, R., Black, R., & Bhutta, Z. (2018). Geospatial inequalities and determinants of nutritional status among women and children in Afghanistan: An observational study. https://pdf.sciencedirectassets.com/286970/1-s2.0-S2214109X18X00059/1-s2.0-S2214109X18300251/main.pdf?X-Amz-Security

Ali, I., & Rajabi, Z. (2017). Women’s empowerment through craft, entrepreneurship and technology in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/347825720

Alkire, R., Nogales, N. N., Quinn, N., & Suppa, N. (2023). Projecting the global multidimensional poverty index. Journal of Development Economics. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2023.103150

Amaluddin, A., Payapo, R. W., Laitupa, A. A., & Serang, M. R. (2018). A modified human development index and poverty in the villages of West Seram Regency, Maluku Province, Indonesia. International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, 8(2), 325–330. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338629990_A_Modified_Human_Development_Index_and_Poverty_in_the_Villages_of_West_Seram_Regency_Maluku_Province_Indonesia

Amnesty International. (2020). Afghanistan’s four million internally displaced people – A glance into their lives of poverty and displacement during the pandemic. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/08/afghanistan-and-its-internally-displaced-people/

Angelou, N., & Ray, S. (2019). Integrating gender and social dimensions into energy interventions in Afghanistan. World Bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/97e64ee9-f3ee-569f-9002-d2a5926aab71/content

Bailey, L. (2016). Feminism, liberal. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316228071_Feminism_Liberal.

Barret, P. (2018). The fiscal cost of conflict: Evidence from Afghanistan 2005–2016. International Monetary Fund. https://www.elibrary.imf.org/configurable/content/journals$002f001$002f2018$002f204$002farticle-A001-en.xml.

Blundell, R., Dearden, L., Meghir, C., & Sianesi, B. (1999). Human capital investment: The returns from education and training to the individual, the firm and the economy. Fiscal Studies, 20(1), 1–30. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24437656.

Brussevich, M., Dabla-Norris, E., & Li, B. (2021). China’s rebalancing and gender inequality. International Monetary Fund. https://www.elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/001/2021/138/article-A001-en.xml.

Dalaman, Z. B. (2024). Resilience amidst uncertainty: A sustainable development goals perspective on undocumented Afghan women’s experiences in Zeytinburnu. Journal of Lifestyle and SDGs Review, 5(1), e03778. https://doi.org/10.47172/2965-730x.sdgsreview.v5.n01.pe03778.

Enyew, B., & Alemeneh, G. (2018). Liberal feminism: Assessing its compatibility and applicability in Ethiopia context. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328533454_Liberal_feminism_Assessing_its_compatibility_and_applicability_in_Ethiopia_context.

Ezadi, Z., Mohammad, N., Sarwari, R., & Jafari, S. (2022). Afghan women and access to health care in the past 25 years. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8669297/

Fahim, A., & Upham, P. (2017). The renewable energy sector in Afghanistan: Policy and potential. https://wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/wene.280

Food and Agriculture Organization. (2024). Afghanistan National Development Strategy (A strategy for security, governance, economic growth & poverty reduction) 2008–2013. https://www.fao.org/faolex/results/details/en/c/LEX-FAOC147922/

Galdo, V., Lopez-Acevedo, G., & Rama, M. (2020). Conflict and the composition of economic activity in Afghanistan. Institute of Labor Economics. https://docs.iza.org/pp153.pdf

Gebre, G. G. (2023). The role of women empowerment on reducing poverty: Cross sectional data. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/371701788_The_Role_of_Women_Empowerment_on_Reducing_Poverty_Cross_Sectional_Data

Ghafoori, I. (2020). Women’s participation in the Afghan peace process. Rana University. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.30687.48802

Ghulam, H., & Naqawi, G. H. (2022). Women's education in Afghanistan: Opportunities and challenges. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/365614968_women's_education_in_afghanistan_opportunities_and_challenges

Haqpana, S., & Tsouroufli, M. (2023). Powerless, poor and needy?: Reproducing colonial discourses of gender and Muslim women through educational interventions by I-NGOs in Afghanistan. Women’s Studies International Forum, 98, 102714. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2023.102714

Hunter, W., Patel, L., & Sugiyajama, N. (2020). How family and child cash transfers can empower women: Comparative lessons from Brazil and South Africa. Global Social Policy. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1468018120981421

Inayatullah, S. (2022). Women’s education in Afghanistan: Disparities in education under the Taliban affecting women’s capabilities development. https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1662068/FULLTEXT01.pdf

International Labor Organization. (2023). Women bear brunt of Afghanistan job losses. https://www.ilo.org/asia/media-centre/news/WCMS_869891/lang--en/index.htm

Jan, A., Hassan, M., Kamboyo, S. H., & Ramzan, M. (2022). Implications and prospects of Taliban’s rule on Afghan women in Afghanistan in the post-US withdrawal period. Webology, 19(2). http://www.webology.org

Junussova, M., Iamshchikova, M., Hashim, N., Khan, M., Kakar, P., Wardak, F., & Rajab, S. (2019). The role of women in the economic development of Afghanistan. https://idl-bnc-idrc.dspacedirect.org/bitstream/handle/10625/60976/IDL%20-%2060976.pdf

Junussova, M., Hashim, N., Iamshchikova, M., Kakar, P., Khan, M. A., Rajabi, S., & Wardak, F. (2021). The role of women in the economic development of Afghanistan. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3807706

Kameniar, B., Weiss, G., & Nazari, M. (2023). Supporting Afghan women to access higher education by reimagining the Sustainable Development Goals. In Springer Nature (pp. 619–635). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-3802-5_34

Khaykin, M. M., Lapniskas, A. A., & Korchegina, O. A. (2020). The development of the theory of human capital in the historical dimension. https://www.atlantis-press.com/proceedings/icemt-20/125940005

Kim, E. M. (2017). Gender and the Sustainable Development Goals. Global Social Policy. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1468018117703444

Lindvall, C. (2023). The decline of women’s rights: A case study about women’s rights in Afghanistan. https://lnu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1763150/FULLTEXT01.pdf

Lombard, C., & March, A. (2022). Afghan Taliban views on legitimate Islamic governance. United States Institute of Peace. https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/2022-09/pw_182-afghan_taliban_views_on_legitimate_islamic_governance.pdf

Lyons, E. (2023). Household and student survey-based evidence on girls secondary education in Afghanistan. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 8(1), 100533. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2023.100533

Ma, N., Chen, S., Kong, Y., Chen, Z., Geldsetzer, P., Heng, Z., Wu, L., Wehrmeister, F. C., Lu, C., Subramanian, S. V., Song, Y., & Li, Z. (2023). Prevalence and changes of intimate partner violence against women aged 15 to 49 years in 53 low-income and middle-income countries from 2000 to 2021: A secondary analysis of population-based surveys. The Lancet Global Health. http://www.thelancet.com/lancetgh

Maizland, L. (2023). The Taliban in Afghanistan. Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/taliban-afghanistan

Mashwani, H. (2017). Female education in Afghanistan: Opportunities and challenges. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321683009_Female_Education_in_Afghanistan_Opportunities_and_Challenges

Masood, W., Aquil, S., Ullah, H., Nadeem, A., Mehmood, H., Islam, Z., Essar, M., & Ahmad, S. (2022). Impact of climate change on health in Afghanistan amidst a humanitarian crisis. https://pdf.sciencedirectassets.com/779141/1-s2.0-S2667278222X00023/1-s2.0-

Mohajan, H. (2022). An overview of the feminism and its categories. https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/114625/1/MPRA_paper_114625.pdf

Moret, E. (2023). Barriers to Afghanistan’s critical private sector recovery. Norwegian Refugee Council. https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/pdf/reports/barriers-to-afghanistans-critical-private-sector-recovery/afghanistans-private-sector-recovery_format-.pdf

Najib, P., & Maclachlan, C. (2023). Moving towards a sustainable future for women in Afghanistan through increased tertiary education participation: Challenges and possibilities. In Sustainable development goals series (pp. 263–278). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5008-7_17

Noel, T., & Finocchio, B. (2022). Using theories of human, social, structural, and positive psychological capital to explore the attrition of former public-school practitioners. Heliyon, 8(1), e08785. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666374021000820

Noori, A. Q. (2021). The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on students’ learning in higher education in Afghanistan. Heliyon, 7(10), e08113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e08113

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. (2023). Afghanistan: UN experts say 20 years of progress for women and girls’ rights erased since Taliban takeover. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/03/afghanistan-un-experts-say-20-years-progress-women-and-girls-rights-erased

Ohlig, L., & Timm, S. (2024). Crisis mode in fragile state and its implications for the human right to education: A governance-analytical perspective on the DRC’s education sector. International Journal of Educational Development, 107, 103056. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2024.103056

Pimkina, S., & de la Flor, I. (2020). Promoting female labor force participation (Jobs Working Paper No. 56). World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34953

Polansky, J., & Laldjebaev, M. (2021). Gendered energy relations at the crossroads of Asia: Electrification, empowerment, and mixed outcomes in northeastern Afghanistan. Energy Research & Social Science. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214629621000219

Robinson, R., & Pope, R. (2023). Human capital theory. ScienceDirect. https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/social-sciences/human-capital-theory

Sahib, H., Zad, A., & Shar, S. (2023). Unleashing the potential of Afghan women: Strides, challenges, and pathways to prosperity in economic development. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4473185

Shawki, N. (2011). Civil society advocacy and the diffusion of violence against women norms: An analysis of the International Violence Against Women Act. Global Social Policy. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468018111421415

Shayan, Z. (2015). Gender inequality in education in Afghanistan: Access and barrier. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/276167701_Gender_Inequality_in_Education_in_Afghanistan_Access_and_Barriers

Taylor, S. R. (2020). UN Women’s feminist engagement with governance by indicators in the Millennium and Sustainable Development Goals. Global Social Policy. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468018120931696

Textor, C. (2024). Female labor participation rate in China 2013–2023. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/252721/female-labor-force-participation-rate-in-china/

Their, A., & Worden, S. (2017). Political stability in Afghanistan: A 2020 vision and roadmap (Special Report 408). United States Institute of Peace. https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/sr408-political-stability-in-afghanistan-a-2020-vision-and-roadmap.pdf

Tsegaye, K., Drucza, M., & Subhatu, A. (2018). Gender norms, agency and innovation in wheat-based systems and livelihoods. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331113104_Gender_norms_agency_and_innovation_in_Afghanistan

UNICEF. (2021a). Health: Ending preventable maternal, newborn and child deaths. https://www.unicef.org/afghanistan/health

UNICEF. (2021b). State of the world's children, child info, and demographic and health surveys.

United Cities and Local Governments. (2019). The localization of the global agenda. https://www.gold.uclg.org/sites/default/files/ENG-GOLD-V-2020.pdf

United Nations. (2024a). The situation of women in Afghanistan: Report on human rights and gender equality. https://www.un.org/en/afghanistan

United Nations. (2024b). The 17 goals. https://sdgs.un.org/goals

United Nations. (2023). Out of jobs into poverty: Afghan women’s economic participation under the ban. UN Women. https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2023-01/Gender-alert-3-Out-of-jobs-into-poverty-Afghanistan-en.pdf

United Nations. (2023). The Sustainable Development Agenda. https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/development-agenda-retired/

United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. (2023). End all forms of gender-based violence in Afghanistan. https://unama.unmissions.org/end-all-forms-gender-based-violence-afghanistan

United Nations Development Programme. (2023). Human development insights. https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/country-insights#/ranks

United Nations Development Programme. (2022). UNDP and the European Union launch US$16.9 million programme to support women entrepreneurs in Afghanistan. https://www.undp.org/afghanistan/press-releases/undp-and-european-union-launch-us-169-million-programme-support-women-entrepreneurs-afghanistan

United Nations Development Programme. (2017). Feasibility report for the project Afghanistan rural energy market transformation initiative – Strengthening resilience of livelihoods through sustainable energy access. https://www.gcfprojects-undp.org/tp/project/6485

United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. (2022). Afghanistan. https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/2022-04/2022%20Afghanistan.pdf

Utsumi, Y. (2022). Armed conflict, education access, and community resilience: Evidence from the Afghanistan NRVA Survey 2005 and 2007. International Journal of Educational Development, 88, 102512. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2021.102512

Vale, G., Margolin, D., & Akbari, F. (2023). Repeating the past or following precedent? Contextualising the Taliban 2.0’s governance of women. International Centre for Counter-Terrorism. https://www.icct.nl/publication/repeating-past-or-following-precedent-contextualising-taliban-20s-governance-women

Witte, G. (2024). Afghanistan War. Encyclopaedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Afghanistan-War

Wolf, K. (2007). Liberal feminism. Wiley Online Library. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781405165518.wbeosl040

World Bank. (2024). Afghanistan private sector rapid survey: An assessment of the business environment – Round 3. https://thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/98d79f4be6e9604798353078fab5e480-0310012024/original/Afghanistan-Private-Sector-Rapid-Survey-Round-3.pdf

World Bank. (2023a). Population, total – Afghanistan. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=AF

World Bank. (2023b). Labor force participation rate for ages 15–24, female (%) (national estimate) – China. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.TLF.ACTI.1524.FE.NE.ZS?locations=CN

World Bank. (2023c). Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages 15+) (modeled ILO estimate) – Afghanistan. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.TLF.CACT.FE.ZS?locations=AF

World Bank. (2023d). 2023 annual report. https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099108512192312732/pdf/IDU1a6f1e873149a71446e19ec11b24376209e43.pdf

World Bank. (2023e). Literacy rate, adult female (% of females ages 15 and above) – Afghanistan. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.FE.ZS?locations=AF

World Health Organization. (2015). Addressing violence against women in Afghanistan: The health system response. https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/201704/WHO_RHR_15.26_eng.pdf

World Trade Organization. (2005). Afghanistan national development strategy: 1387–1391 (2008–2013). https://www.google.com/search?q=Afghanistan+National+Development+Strategy+%28ANDS%29

Wuttaphan, N. (2017). Human capital theory: The theory of human resource development, implications, and future. ResearchGate. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344166132_human_capital_theory_the_theory_of_human_resource_development_implications_and_future

Downloads

Published

2026-06-30

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Breaking Barriers: The Struggle and Contributions of Afghan Women to Sustainability. (2026). Acta Universitatis Danubius. Œconomica, 22(3), 272-295. https://dj.univ-danubius.ro/index.php/AUDOE/article/view/4057