17/07/2026
"The only remaining hope for women in Afghanistan is business."
That is how one representative of female business owners in Herat described it to The New York Times in June, in a report on Afghan women who continue to trade despite restrictions on employment and on girls' education beyond the sixth grade.
More than 10,000 Afghan women hold a business licence today, up from under 1,000 before 2021, in a country where fewer than 7% of women were in work as of 2024. Since 2021, UNDP has reached over 90,000 micro, small and medium enterprises in Afghanistan with grants, equipment and business services.
Doel Mukerjee, UNDP Afghanistan's Deputy Resident Representative, on what sits behind the numbers.
Read the Q&A: https://www.undp.org/policy-centre/istanbul/press-releases/ten-times-more-afghan-women-hold-business-licenses-five-years-ago-we-asked-our-deputy-resident-representative
Sources:
The New York Times, June 2026: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/21/world/asia/women-taliban-restrictions-jobs-education.html
"Listening to Women Entrepreneurs in Afghanistan", UNDP/ICPSD with REACH and TEPAV, 2024: https://www.undp.org/afghanistan/publications/listening-women-entrepreneurs-afghanistan-their-struggle-and-resilience