Support from aid organizations has given some women who returned to Afghanistan an opportunity to use their skills again to start small businesses after experiencing unemployment and economic problems.
September 29 is World Heart Day, observed every year to raise awareness about heart disease and the importance of prevention and timely diagnosis. Doctors say women are also exposed to various risk factors for heart disease. Factors including high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, obesity, physical inactivity, smoking, genetic factors and some hormonal changes can increase the risk of heart disease.
Psychologists and neurologists say Alzheimer’s disease is a common form of dementia that is more commonly seen in women. They believe that women’s longer life expectancy compared with men, hormonal changes, stress and anxiety may be among the reasons behind this.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in partnership with UN Women, has launched an initiative to help women entrepreneurs access financial resources to start and grow their businesses.
In a decree issued in 2024 by Sheikh Hibatullah Akhundzada, leader of the Islamic Emirate, on “preventing improper customs in society,” article 1, paragraph 6 emphasizes respecting women’s right to dower (mahr). The decree says that setting an excessively high dower is not proper and that dower is a woman’s right, which no one else has the right to take. It also describes excessively high and burdensome dower as one of the undesirable customs related to marriage.
A number of women in Siyahgerd district of Parwan say that the launch of a small workshop producing pickles, tomato paste and local dairy products has not only created job opportunities and provided income, but has also increased their self-confidence and given women in the village hope for the future.
Salam Watandar has interviewed 25 women and girls aged 17 to 35 in different provinces and found that, for some of them, their families have become their main source of support and hope for the future.
24 women in nine provinces of Afghanistan say that entering the job market has improved their families’ financial situations and reduced their dependence on their families. However, low incomes, a lack of suitable markets, limited experience, and a lack of facilities remain the main challenges on their path to achieving financial independence.
Khalid Sarhadi, spokesperson for the Ghazni Police Command, says a woman has died in the province after receiving an improperly administered injection.
Consecutive droughts, declining rainfall, and drying water sources in Jawzjan have changed farming methods and the lives of farmers in the province. A number of women farmers in Jawzjan say they are striving to maintain their families’ food security and income by using drip irrigation, improving water management, establishing home gardens, and diversifying their agricultural production.
A number of women interviewed by Salam Watandar complain about the challenges they face when giving birth at home and in health centers. For this report, 10 women aged 20 to 48 from eight provinces, all of whom had given birth at home or in a hospital during the past year, were interviewed. The findings show that these women faced challenges such as the cost of childbirth and medicines, long distances and a lack of transportation, shortages of health workers and facilities, bleeding and severe pain during home births, as well as inappropriate treatment and inadequate facilities in hospitals.
Obstetricians and gynecologists say endometriosis is a disease in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus. According to them, the disease can affect the ovaries and fallopian tubes, causing severe pain during periods, pelvic pain and, in some cases, infertility.
