Join us on September 28 2026 from 4-6 pm. Vital Voices will convene Afghan women leaders and human rights experts for a firsthand briefing on the escalating restrictions facing women and girls and the urgent need for sustained global action.
Event Details
Afghanistan: Five Years On
Monday, September 28, 2026
4:00–6:00 p.m.
Program begins at 4:00 p.m., followed by a networking reception.
Vital Voices Global Partnership Headquarters
Washington, D.C.
Please RSVP by September 25 at this link: https://support.vitalvoices.org/event/afghanistan-five-years-on/e837577
Event Description
Five years after the fall of Kabul, Afghanistan’s women and girls continue to face one of the world’s most systematic campaigns of gender persecution. Since September 2021, the Taliban has issued more than 260 decrees, including 166 aimed specifically at restricting the rights, freedoms and participation of women and girls.
On September 28, 2026, Vital Voices Global Partnership will host Afghanistan: Five Years On, a firsthand briefing examining the realities unfolding across the country and the international community’s responsibility to respond.
The conversation will feature Richard Bennett, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, alongside Afghan women leaders and advocates who are working to protect women’s rights, preserve pathways to participation and keep global attention focused on Afghanistan.
Vital Voices President and CEO Alyse Nelson will join Bennett in conversation with Oumamana Kakar of Women for Peace and Participation; Layma Murtaza, Co-Founder of Aseel App; Hanifa Girowal, Co-Founder of Women’s Rights First; and Nargis Nehan, Founder of Faraageer and former Minister of Mines and Petroleum of Afghanistan.
Together, the speakers will offer firsthand insight into what is happening on the ground, how Afghan women continue to organize and lead despite extraordinary restrictions, and what governments, civil society organizations and individuals can do to stand with them.
Afghan Women Continue to Lead
The Taliban’s restrictions reach nearly every aspect of women’s lives—from education and employment to freedom of movement and participation in public life. Yet Afghan women have not stopped advocating for their rights, supporting their communities or building solutions to meet urgent needs.
Their leadership is a powerful reminder that Afghan women are not passive victims of this crisis. They are experts, organizers, entrepreneurs and human rights defenders who must be included in every conversation about Afghanistan’s future.
This briefing will center their voices and experiences while examining how the international community can move beyond expressions of concern toward sustained, meaningful action.
Five years on, the world must not look away. Join Vital Voices and Afghan women leaders for an urgent conversation about the present reality, the path forward and the collective action needed to ensure Afghanistan’s women and girls are not forgotten.