The United Nations says that "Human development is about
expanding the richness of human life rather than simply the
richness of the economy. It focuses on people and their
opportunities and choices."
In 2025, Afghanistan was ranked at 181 out of 193 countries by
UNDP in terms of human development. The ranking comes from
measurements regarding people's access to nutrition, child
mortality rates, averages regarding the populations years of
schooling and school attendance, access to appropriate sanitation,
drinking water and electricity, and access to housing.
Why is Afghanistan so poor and unstable? There's no one reason,
no one cause. And I'm not going to try to review them here.
Instead, I'm going to emphasize that there are wonderful people
in Afghanistan who, through absolutely no fault of their own, are
living hell - especially women. Much of the incredible progress
made for women and girls in 2002 through 2020 was destroyed when
the Taliban retook Afghanistan in August 2021, with schools
closing entirely to women and girls, schools for boys replacing
much of the curriculum with the Taliban's religious teachings,
women and girls dismissed from all government, UN, media and NGO
jobs, women and girls severely restricted from leaving their homes
at all, and more. It is a reality that educated women will age and
disappear entirely from Afghanistan. If this were happening to a
Christian religious minority, or a racial group, the world would
be outraged. But when it comes to Afghanistan, much of the world's
leadership shrugs and says, "That's their culture. Oh well."
Added to this is the plight of Afghans who live outside of the
country. Thousands of Afghans received visas to live in other
countries - the USA, Canada, Australia, Germany, and on and on.
And many thousands more have fled to Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan
and other countries. None of these Afghans want to return to
Afghanistan, for obvious reasons, yet federal governments are
beginning to cancel asylum programs so that even Afghans that are
legal residents and have applied for permanent residency can be
forcibly returned to Afghanistan.
Afghans, especially women and ethnic minorities, are being
oppressed, persecuted, tortured and killed in Afghanistan, and
most of the countries population living in extreme poverty.
Afghans living abroad as refugees but in fear of being forcibly
returned to Afghanistan.
Afghans living legally abroad but struggling with a whole host of
issues, from daily life for themselves to helping their families
back in Afghanistan.
People from Afghanistan being targeted for harassment,
discrimination, even violence in other countries, fueled by
horrific stereotypes and misinformation.
What can you do?
Look for social media accounts focused on Afghanistan. United
Nations accounts are a good place to start. Follow them and read
their updates. This keeps you in the loop about what is happening
in Afghanistan.
For whatever news outlet you use, sometimes type in the world
"Afghanistan" and see what comes up. Read some stories. That also
helps to keep you up-to-date.
Read about the situation for women in Afghanistan, especially written by Afghan women themselves. Read blogs that you find. Here is an example: The endangered women left behind in Afghanistan.
Write an email, or fill out a feedback form, or send a letter or
postcard in the traditional post, at least once a year, asking
your national elected representatives to care about Afghanistan,
especially the condition of women and girls. Ask them to support
extending Afghan asylum visas and government programs to support
Afghans. Ask them to accept more Afghan refugees. Ask them to keep
pressure on the Taliban and tie foreign aid to better treatment of
women, girls and minorities in Afghanistan. Your voice DOES make a
difference.
Have a post card party where you invite friends over, serve some
food, and then you all write postcards to your elected officials.
Do you love to put stickers on your stuff? Put stickers of the
pre-Taliban Afghanistan flag right alongside the stickers for the
other causes you support.
Share news stories about Afghanistan and/or Afghan refugees on
your social media.
When you read a news story about Afghanistan, look for the words
woman, women and girls. Any media account about Afgahnistan, no
matter the focus, should at least mention the plight of women, and
if it doesn't, you need to write the reporter and the media
company and tell them why they are supporting the Taliban and
white-washing the situation by ignoring the plight of women. Do
the same on the social media account of the media outlet that
published the story.
Look for organizations in your area that support refugees and
immigrants. It is highly likely that those organizations have
Afghan refugees among those they help. These organizations are
easy to find on any Internet search using appropriate keywords.
Find out how to volunteer with the organization - the agency
probably has complete information on its web site.
Refugees and immigrants from Afghanistan need help with
Donae financially or in-kind to the organization is also
appreciated. Make sure your in-kind donation - food, clothes,
furniture - is approved as acceptable. Don't just load up your car
with things you think an Afghan refugee might need and drive it to
a nonprofit.
Tell your friends about the work of any organization you
volunteer with or donation to and tell them how they can support
it.
This is tough to do. The Taliban has shut down most of the NGOs
operating in the country, but some do still exist. When you look
at the social media accounts of these organizations, you often
won't see any Afghan women in the photos at all. However, don't
assume that the organization isn't working with or for women -
they just have to be clandestine about it.
The nonprofits I recommend to donate to in support of Afghans,
especially women:
International
Rescue Committee (IRC).
Aga Khan Foundation
(AKF).
PARSA Afghanistan.
Sahar Education.
Women for Women
Afghanistan.
UNICEF Afghanistan.
UNDP Afghanistan.
There are also three NGOs that are focused on animal welfare that
I want to recommend, In helping these NGOs, you are not only
helping animals in the worst conditions I have ever witnessed
anywhere in the world except for Romania and Italy, you are also
helping to employ Afghans in animal welfare, which helps support
their families and helps change minds about the treatment of
animals:
Nowzad.
Kabul Small
Animal Rescue.
If there is a specific person or a specific family in Afghanistan
that you want to help, that is extremely difficult, especially a
woman.
I have been trying to get help for a woman - a sister of a former
co-worker in Kabul - and none of the NGOs I have contacted have
responded except one, which wanted her to fill out a form to
enroll in a program that might be able to help her a year from
now.
If you have associates in Afghanistan and you want to send them
money: supposedly, Western Union, MoneyGram and Ria Money Transfer
still operate in Afghanistan. See their respective web sites for
more info.
Help your colleagues find really good, easy-to-download
copyright-free books that can be read entirely offline and that
will help your colleague learn English or another language.
Help the person with a LinkedIn profile. It's probably best that
this profile uses a pseudonym, not the person's real name. This
will help you to keep track of the person's professional
experience and education so that you can help them better navigate
the programs they are trying to access, and someday, when the
Taliban is no more, it can help them find a job.
Other things you can do to help your personal or professional
associates in Afghanistan;
You will probably have to explain over and over that, no matter
what their neighbor's cousin says, when someone migrates to
another country, they either have a family member, or family
members, already in that country, as legal citizens, who have
enough money in a bank account or a family business ready to hire
the family member they are going to sponsor. Some countries
require a person to have the equivalent of $100,000 in a bank
account - and the documentation ready to prove it - in order to
apply to migrate, or apply for a family member to migrate.
You will probably have to explain, over and over, that just
getting accepted into a foreign university won't be enough to get
to go to that country: most university acceptance of students do
NOT include a scholarship: there will be no financial support for
tuition, housing or day-to-day living expenses. And if someone is
lucky enough to be accepted AND to get such a magical scholarship,
the country where this university is located MAY still not allow
the Afghan to come to the country on a student visa. This isn't to
say that pursuing foreign education isn't a good idea for Afghans,
but they should know the realities of such.
Here is an overview For People That
Want Refugee or Asylum Status, about the harsh realities of
trying to migrate.
You will also probably have to regularly debunk info they have
heard work-from-home scams and supposed "offers" they have
received for such.
Do NOT go to Afghanistan. NO NO NO. It is unethical to visit
Afghanistan as a tourist, and every travel blogger who has gone
since the fall of the Taliban, or is planning on going, supports
terrorism and supports the oppression of women and the violence
they experience.
If you have a friend who is abusive to his family, who beats and
humiliates his wife and children, who doesn’t allow them to leave
the house, who keeps them from getting medical care, and you
choose to hang out with that friend anyway, you are endorsing the
abuse. You are excusing it.
The Taliban LOVE that Western tourists come to Afghanistan: they
make sure they have a wonderful time, see the natural beauty of
the country, talk only those who say they really love how
Afghanistan is now, etc. They will even show them women who claim
to be happy at how things are now. Those tourists become wonderful
propagandists for the Taliban.
Do NOT go to Afghanistan. Period. Except as an employee of one of
the aforementioned NGOs.
Maybe the aforementioned doesn't sound like much. Maybe it doesn't sound like it will really help an Afghan in a significant way. I wish I had more impactful things to recommend. But this is all I have been able to find to do to help Afghanistan and to help Afghans. If enough people did all of this, it WOULD make a difference.
If you want to translate this document into another language and post it on your own web site, feel free - however, please do not use the author's name anywhere on the site.
Also see:
For People That Want Refugee or Asylum Status: Realities You Need to Know.
What Work-At-Home / Remote Jobs Look Like and how to avoid scams.
How to Get a Paid Job with the
United Nations or other international humanitarian or
development organization.
Ideas for Leadership
Volunteering Activities
A long list of ideas for a person, especially a young person, to
create or lead an impactful project for a community and to have
a leadership role as a volunteer. These can also be activities
for a Capstone project, the Girl Scouts Gold Award, the Duke of
Edinburgh's Award (U.K.), a mitzvah project, or even scholarship
consideration.
How you can advocate for an issue important to you. If there is something you want to tell people about, to prompt them to care, even to prompt them to action, this resource is for you.
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