OPINION

Time to let Afghan women lead

News, Published on 10/03/2025

» This year's International Women's Day is marked by a sense of foreboding, even despair. Progress on women's rights and representation is stalling: the number of women in parliaments grew last year at the lowest rate in a generation, and the global financing gap for gender initiatives remains wide. At a time of widespread democratic backsliding -- and with US President Donald Trump freezing foreign aid, including for gender initiatives -- the prospects for improvement appear bleak.