The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says the Taliban have ruled Afghanistan through at least 470 decrees since returning to power, including 79 measures that directly target women and girls.
In its latest report, released on Tuesday, OCHA said restrictions on Afghan women and girls intensified over the past year and have profoundly reshaped the country’s economic and social structures.
The report said Taliban policies banning women’s education and employment have also severely limited women’s participation in the economy and public life. OCHA warned that the enforcement of these measures has sharply reduced women’s access to livelihoods and basic services, while increasing the risks of gender-based violence, psychological harm and social pressure.
OCHA said Afghanistan is expected to remain one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises in the coming year. In addition to the legacy of war, drought, food insecurity and the mass return of migrants, the systematic exclusion of women and girls from public life has pushed the country to the top tier of global humanitarian emergencies.
According to the report, women are bearing the brunt of economic exclusion, with continued restrictions deepening their social and economic marginalisation. The Taliban’s morality law has further entrenched existing bans and introduced stricter controls, further limiting women’s access to public spaces and participation in social and economic life.
OCHA estimates that women’s participation in the labour force stands at about 6 percent, with most women confined to informal, home-based or subsistence activities. Women who head households cited restrictions on movement, barriers to employment and aid, and a lack of income and housing as their most urgent unmet needs.
Women-Headed Households
The report said women, particularly female heads of households, face serious barriers to information and access. About 66 percent of female-headed households do not know how to access assistance, compared with male-headed households.
As a result, 79 percent of female-headed households face greater shortages of food and safe drinking water. OCHA said these gaps demonstrate how limited access and lack of information heighten vulnerability and undermine the effectiveness and accountability of humanitarian assistance.
Protection Crisis and Gendered Impact
OCHA warned that Afghanistan is facing a deepening protection crisis driven by large-scale forced returns, increasing restrictions especially on women and girls economic hardship and recurring climate-related disasters.
The agency said protection risks for women and girls have risen sharply as both formal and community-based protection systems have been weakened and access to services further restricted. Seventy-seven percent of respondents reported restrictions on women’s movement for cultural or political reasons, while 70 percent said they live in areas where women and girls feel unsafe.
In addition, 63 percent of respondents said they or people they know had been denied access to services because of social or legal restrictions.
OCHA said women and children face the most severe protection risks, including gender-based violence, child marriage, child labour, human trafficking, family separation and psychological distress.
The report said the protection situation for children has worsened compared with last year, with increases in both child labour and child marriage. Reported child marriages rose to 746 cases in 2025, up from 323 the previous year.
