Over three years since they returned to power in Kabul, the Afghan Taliban have yet to boast any significant improvements to the quality of life of Afghans, as the country continues to suffer severe humanitarian and human rights crises.
While the interim Afghan government has managed—with the help of the U.N.—to continue certain government functions, they have violated basic human and civil rights, clamped down on dissent, and rejected any form of national dialogue or political inclusivity. The country is now ruled by a small circle of secluded leaders who are bent on rooting out dissent and erasing women from public life, further enabling the nation’s international isolation. So long as this situation persists, there is a limit to how much governance can improve.
For the most part, the Taliban have availed the existing bureaucracy, with the exception of those working in the judiciary and the security sector, retaining lower and middle-ranking public servants, though paying them reduced salaries. In collaboration with the World Bank and U.N. agencies, the interim government is providing health services on par with pre-August 2021 levels, while the U.N. is also transferring $40 million in cash regularly to ensure the country doesn’t collapse. Yet this relative stability comes alongside massive restrictions on education, with girls banned from attending secondary schools or universities. This invariably causes incalculable harm to Afghan youth, the country’s future.
The relative peace and cash transfers have stabilized the economy though ensure there can be little to no growth. This leaves almost the entire country in poverty and two-thirds of the population in need of international assistance just to survive. The urban-based middle class, a major beneficiary of foreign funding while the U.S.-led forces were in Afghanistan, has been wiped out. Meanwhile, confusion persists over the Taliban are utilizing the funds they have—gathered from the mining the agriculture sectors—as the interim government’s functions lack transparency. The economy is further hampered by restrictions on women’s presence in public, as roughly half the country’s population no longer has any formal employment. Unfortunately, there is little respite for Afghans in the near future; there is much suffering ahead.