KABUL, Afghanistan — The Solidarity Committee for Afghanistan, formerly known as the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan, has urged international donors to fundamentally rethink how they support Afghanistan’s civil society, warning that years of inconsistent engagement and a shifting global focus have left local organizations increasingly vulnerable.
In a policy brief released Wednesday, the committee said that civil society in Afghanistan faces mounting pressure under Taliban rule, coupled with declining foreign aid and a legacy of top-down aid strategies that failed to reflect local realities.
“To ensure support remains relevant and sustainable, donors must rethink their strategies — and listen to Afghan voices on the ground,” the group said in the report, Supporting Afghanistan’s Civil Society: Lessons Learned and Policy Pathways.
The brief offers a series of policy recommendations aimed at donors, development agencies and researchers. Chief among them is a call for a more inclusive definition of civil society — one that recognizes the role of informal, community-based actors alongside formal NGOs, particularly in rural areas.
The SCA said it should be ensured that engagement is based on an inclusive definition of civil society and on Afghan realities. “Civil society should be supported in its own right, rather than merely being regarded as an implementation mechanism to advance external agendas,” the SCA said.
The SCA also called for advancing women’s and girls’ rights through safe, locally anchored approaches, and supporting culturally resonant and safe spaces for women and girls.
Another key recommendation includes fostering long-term, flexible and strategic partnerships, including informal and formal civil society actors that are legitimate and grounded in the urban and rural Afghan society.
The committee notes that after the fall of the Taliban in 2001, international support focused heavily on urban-based, formal organizations, often with limited connection to the populations they served. That model, the report argues, sidelined traditional and locally rooted forms of civil engagement, weakening their role in Afghan society.
Under the current Taliban administration civil society organizations, especially those advocating for women’s rights, face increasing repression. Regulatory restrictions, taxation, and limitations on female participation in civic institutions have further eroded the operating space for such groups.
International development aid to Afghanistan has also fallen sharply, the report notes, with significant funding cuts by the United States and other donors. These reductions have left Afghan civil society with fewer resources at a time of intensifying need.
The brief urges donors to move away from using civil society solely as a vehicle for delivering external agendas, and instead support it “in its own right.” It emphasizes the importance of long-term, flexible partnerships and the need to foster “safe, culturally resonant spaces” for women and girls.
“There is an opportunity to revisit our engagement to ensure it is more relevant to the current context,” the report concludes, “and effectively supports a legitimate, locally rooted and sustainable Afghan civil society.”
The Solidarity Committee for Afghanistan adopted its new name in early 2025, following the Taliban government’s suspension of Swedish organizations in response to Quran burnings in Sweden in 2023. While it no longer operates inside Afghanistan, the committee says it remains committed to supporting Afghan civil society from abroad.
