The European Union has committed 10 million euros to a new program aimed at supporting women entrepreneurs in Afghanistan, the EU delegation in Kabul said in a statement on Thursday.
The funding will launch the second phase of the Women’s Economic Empowerment through Local Enterprise Development (WE-LEAD) initiative, which seeks to help women generate income through small businesses amid severe economic restrictions and limited job opportunities.
Implemented by UNDP, the programme will provide women with access to Sharia-compliant financial services, business training, mentorship and market links, targeting underserved provinces in central and central highland regions where women’s participation in the workforce remains low.
UNDP said nearly all women in Afghanistan face barriers to finance, skills and markets following the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, as international aid declined and restrictions on women’s work and mobility widened.
“This 10 million euro project supports inclusive and durable alternative livelihoods with a focus on building small enterprises and linking them to markets,” Veronika Boskovic Pohar, the EU’s chargé d’affaires to Afghanistan, said in a statement.
The initiative will build on earlier efforts to support women through informal savings groups, Islamic microfinance, and women-led micro and small enterprises, UNDP said. It will also promote community-based financial mechanisms and local value chains.
Stephen Rodriques, UNDP’s resident representative in Afghanistan, said the programme would support thousands of women with financial literacy and access to finance, contributing to job creation and economic recovery.
“By helping women start and grow enterprises, we will not only improve incomes and agency, but also strengthen local economies,” he said.
Afghanistan faces one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with the United Nations warning that widespread poverty, food insecurity and the exclusion of women from economic life are deepening the country’s economic collapse.
