Sida's work in Afghanistan
The humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan is deep after decades of war, political turmoil, poverty and natural disasters. The massforced return of Afghans from Pakistan and Iran exacerbates the situation. The rights of women and girls have deteriorated significantly. Development cooperation will end by 31 December 2025 at the latest, according to a decision of the Swedish government. Humanitarian aid will continue.
Why do Sida work in Afghanistan?
Sharp deterioration in human rights
There has been a sharp deterioration in respect for human rights, especially for women and girls. The lack of gender equality and discrimination against women and girls is a serious obstacle to the country’s development. Women’s and girls’ rights are restricted in terms of education, labour and freedom of movement. Afghanistan is ranked 182 out of 189 countries in the UN Gender Equality Index.
Climate crises and widespread poverty
Prolonged severe drought and deep economic crisis are hitting the country’s population hard. Climate change is causing uncertainty in the timing and amount of rainfall and glaciers are melting. Groundwater, which is the main source of domestic water in cities, is dropping sharply. Biodiversity loss, dwindling water resources, food insecurity, floods, droughts and rising average temperatures are affecting the country. 23 million people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.
Low literacy rates – especially among girls
Literacy rates in Afghanistan are low: 23% for women and 52% for men. The Taliban regime has banned girls and women from education after grade six, affecting around 1.1 million girls. The education system also suffers from a lack of qualified teachers, learning materials and good infrastructure, including clean water and sanitation. These factors contribute to poor learning outcomes.
Examples of what Sida contributes to:
Women and girls’ rights crucial for the country’s development
Sida prioritises strengthening the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan. Following the Taliban takeover, our partner organisations have adapted their work to further promote these rights, including protection and support for female staff. The focus is on education, health, livelihoods and enabling women to participate in society and make their voices heard.
Empowering women economically and building resilience to climate crises
Sida supports women’s opportunities for work and livelihoods, including through support for entrepreneurs and small businesses. This strengthens women’s economic empowerment and contributes to economic development. It also helps women to make their voices heard, both in society and at home.
Basic public services and climate-smart agriculture to strengthen resilience to climate crises are other important areas.
Sida’s support has protected 185 communities from recurrent flooding and helped 27,400 vulnerable households cope with crises. 132 villages have been able to develop their emergency warning systems and 130 hectares of land have been restored through tree planting. In addition, schools have been given more green space and natural water sources have been protected.
Children in school despite difficult challenges
Sida continues to support education for both boys and girls. In 2023, 127,000 students (66 per cent of them girls) were able to attend 3,600 village schools. Through special education and preschool, 10 820 children gained access to inclusive education in Kabul, Balkh Jawzjan provinces. Sida has also contributed to increasing the literacy of 14 735 people, 66% of whom are women, and supported distance learning via radio for girls in secondary schools.
Sida's work in Afghanistan
In Afghanistan, Sida conducts development cooperation that contributes to the country’s long-term development and, since 2021, focuses on resilient interventions for the Afghan people without direct cooperation with the Taliban-controlled Afghan state. In its development cooperation Sida also supports organisations that work to reduce people’s humanitarian needs. Sida provides humanitarian support to save lives and alleviate suffering in emergency situations.
Sida closely monitors developments in the country and analyses how projects receiving support are affected by Taliban decisions and restrictions.
Sida will phase out its development cooperation by 31 December 2025, following a decision by the Swedish Government. The Humanitarian support continues.
Millions of Afghans are in need of humanitarian assistance. Sida’s humanitarian assistance provides people with access to clean water, nutrition and food, health care and protection.
Sida works with international humanitarian and civil society organisations and prioritises the people most in need of support. Afghanistan is one of the countries receiving the most humanitarian support from Sida in 2025.
Sida’s humanitarian support in Afghanistan saves lives and alleviates suffering.
- Afghanistan Humanitarian Funds (AHF) on UNOCHA’s website
- International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)’s website
- Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO)’s website
- United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF’s website
- UN World Food Programme, WFP’s website
- Islamic Relief’s website
- Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)’s website
- Première Urgence Internationale PUI’s website
Learn more about Sida’s analysis of the humanitarian crisis, Sida’s support and how much money is distributed to each organisation in Sida’s crisis analysis.
The Taliban regime has made civil society’s work in peacebuilding and the creation of dialogue more difficult.
Sida supports civil society and women in particular to participate in processes to contribute to democratic and peaceful development. Despite the difficult situation, civil society organisations have been able to continue their peacebuilding work with a focus on inclusive dialogue and conflict resolution. This work is done in partnership with the EU.
Here is an example of projects supported by Sida:
The Folke Bernadotte Academy, FBA supports a forum for Afghan women and supports dialogue. The support is flexible to respond to sudden contextual opportunities in a volatile environment.
Opportunities to pursue democracy and human rights issues are very limited, especially for women and girls.
Freedom of expression is increasingly restricted and it is difficult for civil society organisations to carry out their work. Activists and journalists are beaten, arrested and tortured. There is a lack of legal certainty and the rule of law is largely suspended. There is no indication that the Taliban will be interested in promoting democratic and open societies.
Sida is strengthening the capacity and security of civil society, creating platforms for dialogue and participation, and promoting access to independent information – including human rights information and documentation of human rights violations. Sida also contributes to the protection of vulnerable groups, in particular women and girls.
Here are some examples of programmes and projects that Sida supports:
Since the Taliban takeover, many independent media outlets have been forced to close down, making it particularly difficult for women journalists to carry out their work.
The International Media Support (IMS) organisation has been able to continue its activities and has supported more than 1,000 Afghan journalists and media workers in 2023 with shelter, trauma treatment, financial support and security training. IMS also supports media actors in exile, to provide the Afghan population with access to independent, investigative and critical reporting.
The Afghanistan Analyst Network (AAN) is an independent think tank that produces in-depth reviews and analyses related to human rights, gender equality and other issues. Its reports are published in English and local languages and are available to all free of charge.
In the first half of 2024, the website had 187 000 page views from over 99 000 users.
Sida’s partner organisations are trying to help strengthen human rights in Afghanistan, despite very difficult conditions. Save the Children has contributed to strengthening children’s rights, for example by creating and training networks in the villages, consisting of both men and women.
The networks address challenges raised by children, such as domestic violence and discrimination against girls within the family and at school. Save the Children has also helped children obtain national identity cards, which are needed for children to attend school.
The women’s movement has been increasingly restricted since the bans on women working in non-governmental organisations and at the UN. This particularly affects those working in education, advocacy, child protection and gender-based violence.
Women’s opportunities to earn a living and participate in public life are limited, and the restrictions and bans have a very negative impact on women and girls, as well as on the development of society as a whole.
Sida works to strengthen the freedom and empowerment of women and girls despite the Taliban regime’s restrictions on the right to education, work and freedom of movement. Through support to local organisations, based on the needs and recommendations of Afghan women, Sida strives to improve the situation of women and girls in the country.
The assistance includes support for education, health care, livelihoods and independent information. It is important to try to create space for women to participate in public life and make their voices heard.
Here are some examples of programmes and projects that Sida supports:
UN Women, the UN agency for gender equality and women’s empowerment, works to rebuild and strengthen the capacity of women-led civil society organisations and organisations working for women’s rights. Sida’s support goes to over a hundred organisations in the country and the goal is to reach 150 organisations in 2024.
UN Women is also working to analyse how the Taliban’s prohibitions and restrictions affect women and girls and to examine their priorities for support from the international community. UN Women is carrying out this work by consulting Afghan women in various national and international forums.
Sida also provides support to several Afghan organisations working to strengthen women’s rights at local level. Among other things, platforms have been created for women where they can carry out advocacy work for women’s and girls’ rights that reaches both the international community and the Taliban regime.
The Taliban regime does not allow girls to attend school after grade 6, and women are not allowed to teach boys after grade 6.
In the health sector, much of the basic health care that was suspended after the Taliban regime came to power has been re-established, but without the support of a government health system, as aid funds are channelled outside government structures.
Increased levels of malnutrition and poverty have increased the need for health care. Women’s limited freedom of movement and the fact that they can only be treated by female health workers limit their access to health care. In the long run, the ban on girls’ and women’s education is expected to lead to further shortages of female health workers and thus higher infant and maternal mortality rates.
Sida continues to support education for girls and boys as well as the training of midwives and nurses.
Here are some examples of programmes and projects supported by Sida:
Through Sida’s long-standing support to the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SAK), we have helped train new midwives, nurses and female teachers. This has led to safer deliveries, improved access to healthcare and more girls being able to attend school – especially in remote villages.
SAK has run a large number of village schools for both girls and boys, which have given many children with disabilities the opportunity to receive an education, children who are otherwise often hidden away due to stigma.
SAK has also run primary health care clinics, provided support to people with disabilities, strengthened civil society and contributed to rural development that the villagers, not least the women, have driven themselves. Sida also supports Marie Stopes International to increase access to and respect for sexual and reproductive health.
In March 2024, SAK was forced to suspend its activities in Afghanistan following demands from the Taliban as a result of the Koran burnings in Sweden in 2023. SAK is working to hand over its activities to other actors in Afghanistan in order to safeguard support for its target groups.
The Taliban regime’s restrictions on girls’ education have made it difficult for them to attend school. Sida’s support to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, UNESCO, contributes, among other things, to literacy and radio-based education for girls and boys who do not have access to schools.
Afghanistan is in the midst of a severe economic crisis, which is hitting people living in poverty hard, especially women, children and other vulnerable groups. Access to employment is low. Around 700 000 Afghans lost their jobs in the wake of the Taliban takeover and the number of children dropping out of school has increased as a result of unemployment.
Women, who have traditionally worked mainly in the agricultural sector, are increasingly working from home in small-scale production and processing of agricultural goods. This is a consequence of restrictions on women’s mobility, including requirements for male companionship.
Sida’s support should contribute to economic development at the local level that benefits people living in poverty and vulnerability. Among other things, we support job opportunities for women through support to entrepreneurs and small businesses.
Here are some examples of programmes and projects that Sida supports:
The STFA supported more than 45 000 people between January and June 2024. Of these, more than 29 000 received temporary jobs in return for cash payments (Cash for Work). 73% of the heads of households supported through cash transfers were women. Support for agriculture increased the incomes of more than 14 000 people, almost 55% of whom were women. 92% of the nearly 900 small and medium-sized enterprises supported were run by women, enabling them to maintain and develop their businesses. In addition, 11,000 merchants were able to extend their opening hours as they gained access to solar lighting.
Sida has supported environmental measures to mitigate the effects of climate change, including improved natural resource management and disaster risk reduction measures.
A total of 5,582 people (2,246 women) participated in training programmes on environment and climate change adaptation.
The Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SAK) also contributed to land rehabilitation and built 31 small-scale solutions to adapt to a changing climate, including protective walls and irrigation channels.
Their work to create more green spaces in schools and protect local water sources is also strengthening communities’ resilience to climate change.
Support to the Afghanistan Resilience Consortium (ARC) is building shelters in villages and small towns to prevent and protect against recurrent flooding. In total, 27,400 households living in poverty (including smallholder farmers) in 185 villages have been supported to cope with drought, conflict, and the economic downturn.
Afghanistan Resilience Consortium (ARC) on PreventionWeb.net
The Swedish government has decided to phase out the development cooperation in Afghanistan. It will be completed by 31 December 2025.
Strategy for Sweden’s development cooperation with Afghanistan 2022-2024 (only in Swedish)
Updated: July 1, 2025