Human Security Lab Launches Report on Women, Peace and Security in Afghanistan

Human Security Lab has launched a new briefing note, on the situation of women in Afghanistan since the US withdrawal and the Taliban takeover. The report argues that the US should support women in Afghanistan by ensuring basic needs are met, and expanding opportunities for them to flee the country.

The briefing note, “Rethinking the US’ Women, Peace and Security Agenda in Afghanistan,” comes as the Taliban expand their edicts limiting women’s human rights, including preventing girls from returning to school and, most recently, a new edict on enforced veiling. Professor Charli Carpenter, who directs Human Security Lab, says, “The US as a former conflict party will have limited influence over the Taliban now that it has withdrawn from the country, but can at least make policy choices that mitigate the damage to women from this new situation, including supporting peace efforts toward an inclusive government.”

The executive summary of the report states:

“The US should continue to isolate the Taliban diplomatically, but scale back its use of economic sanctions on behalf of women. Instead, it should focus on gender-inclusive programming aimed at wider initiatives that will empower women to advocate for themselves, including health-care, education, support for infrastructure and technology, and access to asylum for those eligible. The US can also continue to play a powerful role for women through third parties, incentivizing moderate Muslim-majority states, transnational Muslim scholars and Islamic aid organizations to advocate for women, and directly support female-led or women’s-rights-focused local civil society initiatives in Afghanistan.”

The report, led by Human Security Lab Director Professor Charli Carpenter, builds on the latest academic research about gender and conflict (as well as consultations with academic experts, practitioner organizations, and Afghan civil society stakeholders). The research team included five graduate students - Jaeye Baek, Catherine Fowler, Jenna Norosky, Nara Sritharan, Isha Mahajan - as well as two undergraduate student researchers associated with Human Security Lab’s UREP program, Prestin LeBlanc and Jessica Mosheshvilli. The research team simultaneously wrote an internal paper for the US Agency for International Development with recommendations for USAID’s gender programming in the country, based on the same consultations, and presented their findings at USAID this week.

The new report extends Human Security Lab’s stakeholder engagement model by which the Lab works with government, NGO and international organization stakeholders to crowdsource and communicate the latest social scientific consensus on pressing policy dilemmas. The Lab’s first project last fall made the case for a peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan. This summer, the Lab will turn its attention to new projects addressing other important human security problems: civilian protection in Ukraine, and nuclear disarmament advocacy.