Afghan Women Entrepreneurs Face Collapse Under Taliban Limits and Regional Neglect

Women entrepreneurship in Afghanistan is facing the challenge of sustaining businesses under the harsh Taliban regime and very little help from neighbouring countries. Women have been completely deprived of public life, education and work since the Taliban ascended to power, and they were given restrictions that virtually made running a business impossible. Many women entrepreneurs have already declared that their ventures are about to shut down.

The formal job opportunities available to women in Afghanistan have been reduced to almost nothing, and as a result, a majority of the women who used to be engaged in small business activities have now been pushed down to the level of informal and very low-income activities due to the social restrictions and market decline.

Women’s participation in Afghanistan’s economy was always quite low, but under the Taliban it has almost completely disappeared, costing the country the equivalent of about 5% of its GDP every year.
Even amidst these obstacles, the international community comprising the United States, the European Union, India, Japan, Canada and the United Arab Emirates has extended some support. These countries along with the UNDP and UN Women have been instrumental in providing support that creates jobs and offers cash for women’s economic activity.

This support has been a boon to thousands of women and girls who are able to find work or start small businesses, which also helps them cope with the otherwise repressive environment.

Nonetheless, the issues are very serious. Women say that the limitations of the markets, the lack of financial services, and the prohibition or limitation of social media are the main obstacles in reaching customers and advertising their products.
Internet intermittent connection and complete shutdown lead to a situation where doing such elementary things as taking orders and communicating with buyers is next to impossible. The women who are affected by this situation are the ones who mostly go bankrupt due to a combined force of economic isolation and lack of infrastructure.

Economists are saying that without the implementation of more supportive policies and provision of easier access to essential services, these small businesses will not last. In every part of the country where handicraft and service sales have become the major sources of family support, women are afraid they will soon run out of money.

These issues are exacerbated by the fact that the openness of the rivers has caught up with the poor, the unemployment rates are high, and there is little help to women in the process of recovering their economies.

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