Women’s Rights in Taliban’s Afghanistan

This paper details the evolution of women’s rights in Afghanistan spanning the 19th century to the present day, with a particular focus on the UN Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Agenda. The WPS agenda is a policy framework that promotes women’s equal and meaningful participation in peace processes, peacebuilding and security. This paper argues that since 2021, the WPS Agenda’s mission in Afghanistan has been limited in enacting global governance policies for Afghan women. Using the feminist framework of international relations (IR) scholar Cynthia Enloe, this paper is a feminist analysis of global governance in Afghanistan. Ultimately, any policy that is targeted toward Afghan women must involve them in the process and centre their agency.