UN Women in Taliban Afghanistan: The Limits of International Advocacy Without State Cooperation
Author: Rebecca Arnieri
The United Nations has long framed gender equality as both a fundamental human right and a prerequisite for sustainable development. At the centre of this agenda is UN Women, created in 2010 to unify and strengthen the UN’s work on women’s rights (United Nations General Assembly, 2010). As the leading UN entity on gender equality, UN Women seeks to reshape laws, institutions, and social norms, while partnering with governments, civil society, and the private sector (United Nations General Assembly, 2010). Its mandate covers several critical areas, including women’s leadership, economic empowerment, protection from violence, and participation in peace, security, and humanitarian processes (United Nations Development Programme, 2025). Building on milestones such as the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), UN Women plays a central role in promoting gender equality and coordinating international efforts to support women’s rights (United Nations General Assembly, 2010). This mission directly reflects the United Nations Charter’s commitment to reaffirming faith in human rights and the equal rights of men and women, and to achieving international cooperation in promoting social progress (United Nations, 1945). It also aligns with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, where Goal 5 establishes gender equality as a necessary foundation for peace and prosperity (United Nations, 2015).
Afghanistan, since August 2021, represents one of the clearest test cases for this mission. The Taliban’s return to power has led to a near-total reversal of women’s rights in education, employment, political participation, and freedom of movement have been severely restricted (UN Women, 2025; UNAMA, 2025). The progress achieved over two decades was undone almost overnight, revealing how fragile rights can be in conflict-affected and authoritarian contexts. This case not only tests UN Women’s resilience but also raises deeper questions about the UN’s capacity to uphold universal norms in the 21st century, especially when dealing with regimes that portray these norms as Western ideas, incompatible with their own interpretations of Islamic governance (Human Rights Watch, 2025; Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 2025).
This highlights a core challenge for UN Women, particularly when carrying out its work in a country where its authorities openly reject both the principles and legitimacy of international women’s rights. Therefore, this essay aims to investigate the following research question: What explains UN Women’s limited capacity to advance gender equality in Afghanistan since August 2021, and what does this reveal about the UN’s institutional power in authoritarian contexts? The argument presented is that while UN Women has maintained a humanitarian presence and symbolic visibility, its transformative impact is constrained by three interconnected factors: the Taliban’s rejection of international gender norms, UN Women’s institutional dependence on state cooperation that it cannot secure, and the declining political will among international donors. To address this, the essay is organized as follows: first, it outlines UN Women’s mandate and the Afghan reality; second, it examines relevant international frameworks and the regression of women’s rights; third, it engages theoretical perspectives on norm enforcement in authoritarian settings; fourth, it provides an analysis of the paradox of UN Women’s presence without power; and finally, the conclusion reflects on the broader implications for UN Women and the UN system.
UN Women’s Mandate and the Afghan Reality
UN Women was created in 2010 to bring together the UN’s initiatives on gender equality under a single, more effective framework, merging the Division for the Advancement of Women, the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women, the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues, and the UN Development Fund for Women (United Nations General Assembly, 2010; UN Women, 2023). Its mandate is both normative and operational, to promote gender equality, advance women’s rights, and coordinate with other UN agencies (United Nations General Assembly, 2010; UN Women, 2023). As a subsidiary body of ECOSOC, UN Women can build consensus and mobilize cooperation, but it cannot force compliance when states resist, creating both opportunities and limits in pursuing its mission (Charlesworth & Chinkin, 2013; UN Women, 2023).
In Afghanistan, UN Women faces one of its toughest challenges. Since the Taliban’s return in 2021, women’s access to education, employment, political participation, and public life has been drastically limited (UN Women, 2025; UNAMA, 2025). In response, UN Women has responded by focusing on humanitarian programs, digital education initiatives, and advocacy campaigns that reach women where possible (UN Women, 2025; UNAMA, 2025). It works closely with NGOs, regional actors, and diaspora networks to provide essential services, psychosocial support, and small-scale economic programs for women, sustaining resilience despite severe restrictions (UN Women, 2024a; CARE International, 2025).
However, the organization’s influence is extremely limited. UN Women cannot enforce changes to Taliban policies, and its access to women on the ground is often reduced by security restrictions, male guardianship rules, and bans on female employment in certain sectors (Human Rights Watch, 2025; UN News, 2025a). While partnerships help maintain humanitarian reach, these efforts cannot fully replace the systemic transformation UN Women was designed to achieve. The focus of UN Women in this context remains on survival and symbolic resistance rather than broad structural change, underlining the tension between its global mandate and the harsh realities of operating under an authoritarian regime.
International Frameworks and Afghan Regression
International frameworks form the backbone of UN Women’s advocacy in Afghanistan. As a state party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Afghanistan is formally obliged to eliminate discrimination against women in law and practice, regardless of domestic governance changes (UN Women, 2025a). Similarly, UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security emphasizes the indispensable role of women in peacebuilding and conflict resolution, particularly in fragile or conflict-affected contexts like Afghanistan (Samim, 2025). As previously mentioned, these instruments connect directly to Sustainable Development Goal 5, which seeks to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls (United Nations, 2015; Equal Measures 2030, 2024).
Before the Taliban’s return, Afghanistan had made modest but meaningful gains. Millions of girls accessed schools and universities, women participated in parliament and provincial councils, and civil society organizations flourished with international support (Najam & Johnston, 2024; Albrecht et al., 2022). UN Women, in partnership with other UN agencies and local actors, supported programs for women’s leadership, economic empowerment, and protection from violence, gradually building a fragile but tangible foundation for gender equality (Najam & Johnston, 2024; Albrecht et al., 2022). However, since August 2021, the situation has changed drastically. Girls have been denied access to secondary and higher education, women are excluded from most forms of paid work, and participation in political or public life has been effectively eliminated (UN Women, 2025a; UN Women, 2025b). Educational institutions and women-focused organizations have closed, and restrictions on movement and employment severely limit women’s daily lives (UNAMA, 2025). These measures are not temporary disruptions, as they represent an extreme rollback of rights that had been gradually built over two decades.
This regression illustrates how fragile international human rights frameworks are when domestic regimes reject them. The Taliban deliberately frames its restrictions as assertions of sovereignty and cultural authenticity, positioning them against what it portrays as Western hegemonic values (Smith, 2024). By presenting its policies as resistance to foreign interference and a return to “authentic” Islamic governance, the Taliban complicates the UN’s response, as advocating for universal norms is cast as cultural imposition (Lombardi & March, 2022). This highlights both the limits of global norms in the absence of political will and the contested nature of their universality.
These drastic changes create an exceptionally difficult environment for UN Women. The organization must operate in a context where the state actively opposes the norms it seeks to uphold, rendering traditional advocacy and partnership strategies far less effective. Programs that previously focused on capacity-building and systemic change now prioritize sustaining basic humanitarian support and maintaining symbolic visibility. In this context, UN Women’s influence is constrained by both restricted access to women on the ground and the absence of enforcement mechanisms, underlining the inherent challenges of promoting gender equality under authoritarian rule (Smith, 2024; Lombardi & March, 2022).
Theoretical Perspectives: Norm Collapse in Authoritarian Settings
Understanding UN Women’s limited influence in Afghanistan requires looking at how international norms function and fail in authoritarian contexts. Constructivist scholars argue that global norms gain power through persuasion and socialization (Finnemore & Sikkink, 1998). Hence, over time, states adopt certain standards because they come to see them as legitimate and expected behavior (Finnemore & Sikkink, 1998). In Afghanistan, however, this process has been reversed. Instead of gradual internalization, the Taliban has actively broken down previously accepted gender norms, representing a case of deliberate norm reversal rather than continued progress (UN News, 2025; UNAMA, 2025).
Nevertheless, constructivism alone cannot explain UN Women’s challenges. From a realist perspective, international organizations lack the coercive tools to change state behavior when governments refuse to cooperate (Mearsheimer, 1994–1995). In this view, UN Women’s presence in Afghanistan symbolizes moral commitment rather than real leverage. The organization cannot impose costs on the Taliban for violating international standards, nor can it offer incentives strong enough to encourage change. As realists like Mearsheimer (1994–1995) have argued, without enforcement power or a shift in the Taliban’s political interests, gender equality efforts remain aspirational (UN Women, 2025; UNAMA, 2025).
Feminist scholars add a crucial layer to this debate, arguing that even well-meaning gender mainstreaming efforts can reproduce inequality by treating women as passive beneficiaries instead of political actors (Charlesworth, 2005). Critics suggest that UN Women sometimes focuses too heavily on measurable outcomes and institutional inclusion rather than transformative change, reinforcing existing power structures instead of challenging them (Caglar et al., 2013). In Afghanistan, this raises the difficult question of whether advances before 2021 were genuine shifts in social norms or largely dependent on foreign presence and conditional aid.
These perspectives show the difficult position UN Women faces, as it works within a system that depends on states deciding to cooperate, yet it operates in a country whose rulers reject both its authority and its message. Therefore, UN Women must constantly find a balance in standing up for universal women’s rights without being seen as imposing Western values, and staying present on the ground without appearing to legitimize the Taliban (Caglar, Prügl, & Zwingel, 2013).
Critical Analysis: The Paradox of Presence Without Power
UN Women’s engagement in Afghanistan after 2021 reflects both resilience and deep institutional constraint. Despite one of the world’s most repressive contexts for women, the organization has managed to sustain a meaningful presence. It has done so by keeping women’s rights visible internationally through sustained advocacy, coordinated humanitarian responses with UN agencies and NGOs, and supported small-scale empowerment programs for women and girls. The Afghanistan Country Office has partnered with over 240 local organizations, distributed millions in grants, and reached more than 1.6 million women through the Special Trust Fund for Afghanistan (UN Women, n.d.; UN OCHA, 2024). These may seem modest outcomes compared to pre-2021 gains, yet in a setting where women’s visibility is being systematically erased, visibility itself becomes fundamental.
Nonetheless, three main structural constraints continue to limit UN Women’s capacity to drive transformative change. The first is the Taliban’s rejection of international gender norms (OHCHR, 2025). This is not a simple policy disagreement but a fundamental clash of worldviews. The Taliban imposes a competing claim to legitimacy based on its interpretation of Islamic governance, dismissing frameworks like CEDAW as foreign impositions (CEDAW, 2025). Since the Taliban regime is not internationally recognized yet exercises full territorial control, UN Women cannot rely on state obligations or dialogue based on shared norms. Its main advocacy tools, which include technical assistance, persuasion, and partnership, depend on cooperation that no longer exists (United Nations General Assembly, 2010). As Human Rights Watch (2025) notes, this transforms engagement into a one-sided conversation, where advocacy is unsuccessful.
The second constraint lies within UN Women’s own institutional structure. As a subsidiary body of ECOSOC, UN Women lacks enforcement power and depends heavily on other UN agencies and NGOs for implementation. Unlike agencies such as UNICEF or WHO, which deliver services directly, UN Women works largely through partnerships (United Nations General Assembly, 2010). This makes it vulnerable to Taliban restrictions on NGO operations, such as mandates for male chaperones, bans on women’s employment in international organizations, and administrative barriers that block access to affected communities (UNW/2025/9, 2024; UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS, UNICEF, & UN Women, 2020; Le Monde, 2024; Al Jazeera, 2024; UN News, 2025a). In many cases, Taliban officials have simply denied female staff permission to work, making it nearly impossible for UN Women to implement programs designed to empower them.
The third major limitation is donor fatigue and shifting global attention. With international focus redirected toward crises in Ukraine, Gaza, and elsewhere, Afghanistan’s humanitarian response has suffered funding declines (UN OCHA, 2024; AMU TV, 2025; CSIS, 2024). Between 2022 and 2024, overall humanitarian funding fell by up to 56%, especially in regard to gender-specific programs (UN OCHA, 2024; AMU TV, 2025; CSIS, 2024). With less funding, UN Women has had to cut back projects and partnerships, often making choices about which communities to keep supporting (ICWA, 2024). The result of this is a discouraging cycle, as limited resources reduce impact, and limited impact makes it harder to attract new funding (UN OCHA, 2025; NRC, 2025).
Together, these challenges reveal the paradox at the heart of UN Women’s work in Afghanistan as it continues to show determination, creativity, and moral conviction, yet its capacity to drive real change remains extremely constrained. UN Women operates within a framework built on state sovereignty and voluntary cooperation, but in this case, it confronts a regime that rejects both. On the one hand, it must defend universal rights while on the other, respecting local sensitivities and staying engaged without legitimizing oppression. Nevertheless, UN Women’s presence in Afghanistan remains extremely meaningful. It sustains humanitarian lifelines, keeps women’s rights on the international agenda, and signals that the global community has not turned away (UN News, 2025; Human Rights Watch, 2025).
Conclusion
The analysis presented in this essay highlights the gap between UN Women’s operational model and the political reality it faces. The organization was designed to function within a system where states accept, even if sometimes reluctantly, the basic legitimacy of international human rights frameworks. Afghanistan under Taliban rule represents the opposite scenario, as a regime that contests the very foundations of UN Women’s mandate while exercising territorial control that the international community cannot effectively challenge.
This case reveals how UN Women operates in practice, in maintaining humanitarian presence, documenting violations, supporting 1.6 million women through constrained networks. However, these outcomes also expose the uncomfortable reality that international organizations can preserve visibility and provide essential humanitarian services, but they cannot enforce norm compliance where political authority and willingness are absent. The difference between what UN Women has accomplished and what it was established to achieve illustrates the gap between the UN’s normative aspirations and its practical enforcement capacity.
Finally, Afghanistan tests the broader post-1945 international order’s assumptions about how global governance functions. This specific case demonstrates that when states refuse to participate in the cooperative frameworks that underpin UN operations, international organizations face hard limits on their transformative capacity. UN Women’s continued engagement matters for the women it reaches and for maintaining international recognition of their rights. However, it cannot substitute for systemic change that requires political will the organization cannot generate on its own. The challenge ahead is determining what international solidarity means when available tools cannot produce intended outcomes, a question that extends well beyond Afghanistan and UN Women alone.
List of references
Al Jazeera. (2024, December 30). Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers say will close all NGOs
employing women. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/30/afghanistans-taliban-rulers-say-will-close-all-ngos-employing-women
Albrecht, D., Bhatia, A., & Khan, S. (2022). Women in Afghanistan: Developments over the last
20 years. CESifo Forum, 1, 15–25. https://www.ifo.de/DocDL/CESifo-Forum-2022-1-albrecht-et-al-afghan-women-january.pdf
AMU TV. (2025, September 10). UN warns of rapidly worsening humanitarian crisis in
Afghanistan. https://amu.tv/198692/
CARE International. (2025, August 6). Afghan women and girls face increased risks amid a
surge in returns to the country. https://www.care.org/media-and-press/afghan-women-and-girls-face-increased-risks-of-poverty-early-marriage-harassment-and-exploitation-amid-a-surge-in-returns-to-the-country/
Caglar, G., Prügl, E., & Zwingel, S. (Eds.). (2013). Feminist strategies in international
governance. Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9780203094969/feminist-strategies-international-governance-susanne-zwingel-g%C3%BClay-caglar-elisabeth-pr%C3%BCgl
Charlesworth, H. (2005). Not waving but drowning: Gender mainstreaming and human rights in
the United Nations. Harvard Human Rights Journal, 18, 1–18. https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2023-10/discussion-paper-social-norms-gender-and-development-a-review-of-research-and-practice-en.pdf
Charlesworth, H., & Chinkin, C. (2013). The creation of UN Women. London School of
Economics and Political Science. https://eprints.lse.ac.uk/53605/
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). (2025, July 9).
Concluding observations on the fourth periodic report of Afghanistan. https://docs.un.org/en/CEDAW/C/AFG/CO/4
CSIS. (2024, June 12). The future of assistance for Afghanistan: A dilemma. Center for Strategic
and International Studies. https://www.csis.org/analysis/future-assistance-afghanistan-dilemma
Equal Measures 2030. (2024, September). Country profile: Afghanistan [PDF].
https://equalmeasures2030.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Country_Profile_Afghanistan_note.pdf
Finnemore, M., & Sikkink, K. (1998). International norm dynamics and political change.
International Organization, 52(4), 887–917. https://doi.org/10.1162/002081898550789
Francis, B. (2018, November). The local level implementation of Afghanistan’s National Action
Plan on UNSCR 1325 – Women, peace and security (Working Paper). International Alert. https://www.international-alert.org/app/uploads/2021/08/Afghanistan-National-Action-Plan-UNSCR-1325-EN-2018.pdf
Human Rights Watch. (2025, January 15). World report 2025: Afghanistan.
https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2025/country-chapters/afghanistan
Human Rights Watch. (2025, October 6). UN Rights Council creates Afghanistan accountability
body. https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/10/06/un-rights-council-creates-afghanistan-accountability-body
ICWA. (2024, September 29). Navigating the humanitarian dilemma in Afghanistan. Indian
Council of World Affairs. https://www.icwa.in/show_content.php?lang=1&level=3&ls_id=11880&lid=7213
Le Monde. (2024, December 31). UN condemns Taliban ban on Afghan women working at
Lombardi, C. B., & March, A. F. (2022, February). Afghan Taliban views on legitimate Islamic
governance: Certainties, ambiguities, and areas for compromise (Peaceworks No. 182). United States Institute of Peace. https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/2022-09/pw_182-afghan_taliban_views_on_legitimate_islamic_governance.pdf
Mearsheimer, J. J. (1994–1995). The false promise of international institutions. International
Security, 19(3), 5–49. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2539078?origin=crossref
Najam, M., & Johnston, H. (2024). The mis-education of women in Afghanistan: Education
expansion and women’s labor force participation pre-2021. World Bank Report. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstreams/a06266b6-86e7-46a1-890f-75f238141ad7/download
NRC. (2025, March 24). Afghanistan: Crippling aid cuts threaten lives and wellbeing of the most
vulnerable. Norwegian Refugee Council. https://www.nrc.no/news/2025/march/afghanistan-crippling-aid-cuts-threaten-lives-and-wellbeing-of-the-most-vulnerable
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). (2025, August 13). Afghanistan:
International community must reject Taliban’s violent and authoritarian rule, say UN experts. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/08/afghanistan-international-community-must-reject-talibans-violent-and
OHCHR. (n.d.). The Core International Human Rights Instruments and their Monitoring Bodies.
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CoreInstruments.aspx
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. (2025, August 13). Four years on, UN says Taliban close to
‘erasing’ Afghan women. https://www.rferl.org/a/un-taliban-erasing-afghan-women-from-public-life/33501215.html
Samim, R. (2025, January 26). International legal mechanisms to safeguard women’s rights: An
analysis of Afghan women’s rights under Taliban rule. Yale Journal of International Law. https://yjil.yale.edu/posts/2025-01-26-international-legal-mechanisms-to-safeguard-womens-rights-an-analysis-of-afghan
Security Council Report. (2025, September 29). Women, peace and security, October 2025
monthly forecast. https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/monthly-forecast/2025-10/women-peace-and-security-19.php
Smith, G. (2024). Afghanistan: Three years after Taliban takeover. International Crisis Group.
https://www.crisisgroup.org/asia-pacific/afghanistan/afghanistan-three-years-after-taliban-takeover
UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS, UNICEF, & UN Women. (2020, May 26). Executive Boards of
UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS, UNICEF, and UN Women: Joint paper on working methods of the Executive Boards. https://www.undp.org/sites/g/files/zskgke326/files/undp/library/corporate/Executive%20Board/2020/Annual-session/Joint%20Paper%20on%20Working%20Methods%20of%20the%20Executive%20Boards-(version%2026-5-20).pdf
United Nations. (1945). Charter of the United Nations.
https://www.un.org/en/about-us/un-charter
United Nations. (2010, July 21). Resolution 64/289: System-wide coherence (A/RES/64/289).
https://docs.un.org/en/A/RES/64/289
United Nations. (2015). Transforming our world: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development. https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda
United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. (2025). Update on the human rights situation
in Afghanistan: January–March 2025 (Report). https://unama.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/unama_update_on_human_rights_in_afghanistan_january-march_2025.pdf
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). (n.d.). Beijing
Declaration and Platform for Action. https://archive.unescwa.org/our-work/beijing-declaration-and-platform-action
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. (2024). Afghanistan
humanitarian needs and response plan 2024: Response overview (1 January–31 July 2024). https://www.unocha.org/publications/report/afghanistan/afghanistan-humanitarian-needs-and-response-plan-2024-response-overview-1-january-31-july-2024
United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). (2004).
Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women (CEDAW). https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-elimination-all-forms-discrimination-against-women
UN News. (2025, September 14). Afghanistan: New restrictions on women nationals working for
UN, put aid efforts at risk. https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/09/1165823
UN News. (2025, September 24). Afghanistan faces ‘perfect storm’ of crises, UN warns.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/09/1165870
UN Women. (n.d.). Afghanistan country results. UN Women. Retrieved October 1, 2025, from
https://open.unwomen.org/en/country-results/AF
UN Women. (2023). About UN Women.
https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/about-un-women
UN Women. (2024). Gender Alert 2025: Resilience of Afghan women-led organisations.
UN Women. (2024a). The inescapable cycle: Women’s exclusion in Afghanistan.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/08/1165622
UN Women. (2025b). Afghanistan gender crisis and impact of Taliban rule. United Nations
Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. https://unwomen.org.au/state-of-womens-rights-in-afghanistan/
UN Women. (2025c). Afghanistan Gender Index 2024: A decade lost for women and girls.
https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2025-06/gender-index-2024-afghanistan-en.pdf
UNW/2025/9. (2024, December 31). Executive Board of the United Nations Entity for Gender
Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women): Annual report. https://docs.un.org/en/UNW/2025/9
Author’s Short Bio
Rebecca Arnieri is an MA candidate in Gender and Development at the University for Peace (UPEACE) in collaboration with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). Her research examines gender equality, international governance, and humanitarian advocacy in conflict-affected contexts. Before joining UPEACE, Rebecca worked with UNIDROIT in Rome and European civil society initiatives, including Pulse of Europe in Frankfurt, coordinating development programs and managing communications for international audiences. She currently co-facilitates the professional development course “Skills for Effective Negotiations” at UPEACE’s Centre for Executive Education and writes articles on European affairs for Polis Politics and Fondazione Giacomo Feltrinelli, a leading European research and culture center. With a BA in European Studies from Maastricht University in the Netherlands, Rebecca explores the practical application of international frameworks and links academic research with direct engagement in peacebuilding and women’s rights
