As Taliban Rule Enters Sixth Year, Healthcare for Afghan Women Is Being Dismantled 24/08/2026 Manija Mirzaie Five years after the Taliban returned to power, Afghanistan’s health system is being squeezed from two directions: shrinking healthcare services and restrictions that are making it increasingly difficult for women to reach them. The consequences are particularly acute for Afghan women. Taliban-imposed restrictions on their movement, employment and education have narrowed access to healthcare, while […] Continue reading -> Caught Between Rubble and Taliban Restrictions, Afghan Women Struggle for Survival 29/10/2025 Manija Mirzaie At around midnight on the last night in August, a powerful earthquake destroyed homes and villages in Afghanistan – and the Taliban-controlled government’s restrictive policies exacerbated the suffering of women and girls caught in the disaster. Women and girls living in eastern Afghanistan are bearing the heaviest burden after the 6.0-magnitude earthquake killed and injured […] Continue reading -> Afghanistan’s Fragile Health System Buckles Under Surge of Deportees from Iran and Pakistan 18/08/2025 Manija Mirzaie Afghanistan’s fragile healthcare system is at breaking point under the strain of hundreds of thousands of Afghans deported from Iran and Pakistan over the past few months, many in urgent need of medical care. This follows the decision by both Pakistan and Iran to repatriate Afghans, even those with refugee status in the case of […] Continue reading -> Desperate Afghans Resort to Holy Men and Shrines as Aid Cuts Affect Medicine Supplies 06/05/2025 Manija Mirzaie Bibi Sharifa’s grandmother died of tuberculosis when there was no medicine available in her village in central Afghanistan and visiting shrines of the dead holy men was the only healing they could get. That was two decades ago when the country’s entire healthcare system was in shambles under the first term of a brutal Taliban […] Continue reading -> ‘Are We Not Human?’ Afghan Women in Despair After Taliban Ban Them from Nursing and Midwifery 19/12/2024 Manija Mirzaie Medical institutions were the last hope for Afghan girls and women seeking higher education since the Taliban banned schools and universities for women “Why do you torture us every day? Just give us poison and end it all,” a heartbroken Afghan medical student told Taliban forces, expressing the despair of thousands of girls whose dreams […] Continue reading -> Afghanistan’s Drug Users Face Violence, Stigma and Segregation 30/08/2024 Manija Mirzaie KABUL, Afghanistan — On Kabul’s eastern outskirts, far from the bustling city centre, lies what locals call “the camp of addicts.” The Avicenna Drug Treatment Center, a massive compound enclosed by towering concrete walls, looms over the Afghan capital. Within its gates, Afghans face forced rehabilitation in the Taliban’s escalating war on drug addiction, a […] Continue reading -> Youth in ‘Forgotten’ Afghanistan Need Community-Based Systems to Address Drug Abuse and Mental Health Disorders 04/04/2024 Manija Mirzaie The ‘forgotten crisis’ of Afghanistan has exposed more and more young Afghans to mental health problems and drug abuse amid dwindling donor support and crumbling healthcare under the Taliban regime, said experts at a high-level side event at the recent meeting of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna Austria. Since the Taliban imposed a […] Continue reading ->
Caught Between Rubble and Taliban Restrictions, Afghan Women Struggle for Survival 29/10/2025 Manija Mirzaie At around midnight on the last night in August, a powerful earthquake destroyed homes and villages in Afghanistan – and the Taliban-controlled government’s restrictive policies exacerbated the suffering of women and girls caught in the disaster. Women and girls living in eastern Afghanistan are bearing the heaviest burden after the 6.0-magnitude earthquake killed and injured […] Continue reading -> Afghanistan’s Fragile Health System Buckles Under Surge of Deportees from Iran and Pakistan 18/08/2025 Manija Mirzaie Afghanistan’s fragile healthcare system is at breaking point under the strain of hundreds of thousands of Afghans deported from Iran and Pakistan over the past few months, many in urgent need of medical care. This follows the decision by both Pakistan and Iran to repatriate Afghans, even those with refugee status in the case of […] Continue reading -> Desperate Afghans Resort to Holy Men and Shrines as Aid Cuts Affect Medicine Supplies 06/05/2025 Manija Mirzaie Bibi Sharifa’s grandmother died of tuberculosis when there was no medicine available in her village in central Afghanistan and visiting shrines of the dead holy men was the only healing they could get. That was two decades ago when the country’s entire healthcare system was in shambles under the first term of a brutal Taliban […] Continue reading -> ‘Are We Not Human?’ Afghan Women in Despair After Taliban Ban Them from Nursing and Midwifery 19/12/2024 Manija Mirzaie Medical institutions were the last hope for Afghan girls and women seeking higher education since the Taliban banned schools and universities for women “Why do you torture us every day? Just give us poison and end it all,” a heartbroken Afghan medical student told Taliban forces, expressing the despair of thousands of girls whose dreams […] Continue reading -> Afghanistan’s Drug Users Face Violence, Stigma and Segregation 30/08/2024 Manija Mirzaie KABUL, Afghanistan — On Kabul’s eastern outskirts, far from the bustling city centre, lies what locals call “the camp of addicts.” The Avicenna Drug Treatment Center, a massive compound enclosed by towering concrete walls, looms over the Afghan capital. Within its gates, Afghans face forced rehabilitation in the Taliban’s escalating war on drug addiction, a […] Continue reading -> Youth in ‘Forgotten’ Afghanistan Need Community-Based Systems to Address Drug Abuse and Mental Health Disorders 04/04/2024 Manija Mirzaie The ‘forgotten crisis’ of Afghanistan has exposed more and more young Afghans to mental health problems and drug abuse amid dwindling donor support and crumbling healthcare under the Taliban regime, said experts at a high-level side event at the recent meeting of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna Austria. Since the Taliban imposed a […] Continue reading ->
Afghanistan’s Fragile Health System Buckles Under Surge of Deportees from Iran and Pakistan 18/08/2025 Manija Mirzaie Afghanistan’s fragile healthcare system is at breaking point under the strain of hundreds of thousands of Afghans deported from Iran and Pakistan over the past few months, many in urgent need of medical care. This follows the decision by both Pakistan and Iran to repatriate Afghans, even those with refugee status in the case of […] Continue reading -> Desperate Afghans Resort to Holy Men and Shrines as Aid Cuts Affect Medicine Supplies 06/05/2025 Manija Mirzaie Bibi Sharifa’s grandmother died of tuberculosis when there was no medicine available in her village in central Afghanistan and visiting shrines of the dead holy men was the only healing they could get. That was two decades ago when the country’s entire healthcare system was in shambles under the first term of a brutal Taliban […] Continue reading -> ‘Are We Not Human?’ Afghan Women in Despair After Taliban Ban Them from Nursing and Midwifery 19/12/2024 Manija Mirzaie Medical institutions were the last hope for Afghan girls and women seeking higher education since the Taliban banned schools and universities for women “Why do you torture us every day? Just give us poison and end it all,” a heartbroken Afghan medical student told Taliban forces, expressing the despair of thousands of girls whose dreams […] Continue reading -> Afghanistan’s Drug Users Face Violence, Stigma and Segregation 30/08/2024 Manija Mirzaie KABUL, Afghanistan — On Kabul’s eastern outskirts, far from the bustling city centre, lies what locals call “the camp of addicts.” The Avicenna Drug Treatment Center, a massive compound enclosed by towering concrete walls, looms over the Afghan capital. Within its gates, Afghans face forced rehabilitation in the Taliban’s escalating war on drug addiction, a […] Continue reading -> Youth in ‘Forgotten’ Afghanistan Need Community-Based Systems to Address Drug Abuse and Mental Health Disorders 04/04/2024 Manija Mirzaie The ‘forgotten crisis’ of Afghanistan has exposed more and more young Afghans to mental health problems and drug abuse amid dwindling donor support and crumbling healthcare under the Taliban regime, said experts at a high-level side event at the recent meeting of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna Austria. Since the Taliban imposed a […] Continue reading ->
Desperate Afghans Resort to Holy Men and Shrines as Aid Cuts Affect Medicine Supplies 06/05/2025 Manija Mirzaie Bibi Sharifa’s grandmother died of tuberculosis when there was no medicine available in her village in central Afghanistan and visiting shrines of the dead holy men was the only healing they could get. That was two decades ago when the country’s entire healthcare system was in shambles under the first term of a brutal Taliban […] Continue reading -> ‘Are We Not Human?’ Afghan Women in Despair After Taliban Ban Them from Nursing and Midwifery 19/12/2024 Manija Mirzaie Medical institutions were the last hope for Afghan girls and women seeking higher education since the Taliban banned schools and universities for women “Why do you torture us every day? Just give us poison and end it all,” a heartbroken Afghan medical student told Taliban forces, expressing the despair of thousands of girls whose dreams […] Continue reading -> Afghanistan’s Drug Users Face Violence, Stigma and Segregation 30/08/2024 Manija Mirzaie KABUL, Afghanistan — On Kabul’s eastern outskirts, far from the bustling city centre, lies what locals call “the camp of addicts.” The Avicenna Drug Treatment Center, a massive compound enclosed by towering concrete walls, looms over the Afghan capital. Within its gates, Afghans face forced rehabilitation in the Taliban’s escalating war on drug addiction, a […] Continue reading -> Youth in ‘Forgotten’ Afghanistan Need Community-Based Systems to Address Drug Abuse and Mental Health Disorders 04/04/2024 Manija Mirzaie The ‘forgotten crisis’ of Afghanistan has exposed more and more young Afghans to mental health problems and drug abuse amid dwindling donor support and crumbling healthcare under the Taliban regime, said experts at a high-level side event at the recent meeting of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna Austria. Since the Taliban imposed a […] Continue reading ->
‘Are We Not Human?’ Afghan Women in Despair After Taliban Ban Them from Nursing and Midwifery 19/12/2024 Manija Mirzaie Medical institutions were the last hope for Afghan girls and women seeking higher education since the Taliban banned schools and universities for women “Why do you torture us every day? Just give us poison and end it all,” a heartbroken Afghan medical student told Taliban forces, expressing the despair of thousands of girls whose dreams […] Continue reading -> Afghanistan’s Drug Users Face Violence, Stigma and Segregation 30/08/2024 Manija Mirzaie KABUL, Afghanistan — On Kabul’s eastern outskirts, far from the bustling city centre, lies what locals call “the camp of addicts.” The Avicenna Drug Treatment Center, a massive compound enclosed by towering concrete walls, looms over the Afghan capital. Within its gates, Afghans face forced rehabilitation in the Taliban’s escalating war on drug addiction, a […] Continue reading -> Youth in ‘Forgotten’ Afghanistan Need Community-Based Systems to Address Drug Abuse and Mental Health Disorders 04/04/2024 Manija Mirzaie The ‘forgotten crisis’ of Afghanistan has exposed more and more young Afghans to mental health problems and drug abuse amid dwindling donor support and crumbling healthcare under the Taliban regime, said experts at a high-level side event at the recent meeting of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna Austria. Since the Taliban imposed a […] Continue reading ->
Afghanistan’s Drug Users Face Violence, Stigma and Segregation 30/08/2024 Manija Mirzaie KABUL, Afghanistan — On Kabul’s eastern outskirts, far from the bustling city centre, lies what locals call “the camp of addicts.” The Avicenna Drug Treatment Center, a massive compound enclosed by towering concrete walls, looms over the Afghan capital. Within its gates, Afghans face forced rehabilitation in the Taliban’s escalating war on drug addiction, a […] Continue reading -> Youth in ‘Forgotten’ Afghanistan Need Community-Based Systems to Address Drug Abuse and Mental Health Disorders 04/04/2024 Manija Mirzaie The ‘forgotten crisis’ of Afghanistan has exposed more and more young Afghans to mental health problems and drug abuse amid dwindling donor support and crumbling healthcare under the Taliban regime, said experts at a high-level side event at the recent meeting of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna Austria. Since the Taliban imposed a […] Continue reading ->
Youth in ‘Forgotten’ Afghanistan Need Community-Based Systems to Address Drug Abuse and Mental Health Disorders 04/04/2024 Manija Mirzaie The ‘forgotten crisis’ of Afghanistan has exposed more and more young Afghans to mental health problems and drug abuse amid dwindling donor support and crumbling healthcare under the Taliban regime, said experts at a high-level side event at the recent meeting of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna Austria. Since the Taliban imposed a […] Continue reading ->