RASC News Agency: In a rare glimmer of hope amid the suffocating darkness of Taliban rule, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has expanded its rehabilitation and empowerment programs for women recovering from drug addiction in Ghazni Province a move hailed by activists as a lifeline for some of Afghanistan’s most marginalized women.
In a statement released on Wednesday, October 29, the ILO announced the successful completion of business and vocational training programs for 25 women who had recently recovered from addiction. According to the organization, the initiative seeks to equip these women with practical skills and business knowledge, enabling them to achieve economic independence and reclaim their place in society after years of exclusion and trauma.
The ILO emphasized that the training included courses on handicrafts, home-based production, and small-scale entrepreneurship. These programs aim not only to provide women with livelihoods but also to restore their sense of dignity and agency in a country where the Taliban have systematically stripped women of their right to work, study, and even exist in public life.
Under Taliban rule, women’s rehabilitation efforts face immense barriers. The regime, which claims to combat narcotics, has instead implemented cruel and punitive measures against female addicts detaining many in overcrowded prisons under the guise of “treatment.” The Taliban’s actions, devoid of compassion or medical understanding, have been widely condemned by human rights defenders as a gross violation of international humanitarian law and basic human dignity.
The United Nations and several international agencies have repeatedly warned of the dire situation facing women struggling with addiction in Afghanistan. These women, already victims of war, poverty, and social stigma, are now further silenced by the Taliban’s repressive decrees that deny them access to medical care, psychological support, and vocational training. The majority are abandoned by their families and left to survive without shelter, healthcare, or hope casualties of a regime that governs through fear rather than service.
Social activists and rehabilitation experts argue that initiatives such as the ILO’s project represent one of the few genuine pathways toward rebuilding lives destroyed by addiction and neglect. By providing training in small business management and income-generating activities, these programs allow women not only to regain stability but also to contribute to their communities in meaningful ways. “Each woman who learns a trade or starts a small business becomes a beacon of resilience in a society deliberately kept in darkness,” said a Kabul-based women’s rights advocate in an interview with RASC News Agency.
The ILO, in reaffirming its long-term commitment to Afghanistan, stated that its mission goes beyond short-term aid. The organization’s programs are designed to build lasting social and economic resilience by investing in women’s capacities and leadership. “Empowering women through education and work is essential for rebuilding Afghanistan from within,” the statement noted a subtle but powerful rebuke to the Taliban’s gender apartheid policies.
The Taliban’s governance has driven Afghanistan’s healthcare and social welfare systems to the brink of collapse. Their bans on girls’ education, restrictions on female employment, and suppression of international aid operations have left thousands of women vulnerable and without access to essential services. As the regime tightens its control over every aspect of life, international organizations like the ILO remain among the few channels through which Afghanistani women can still find empowerment and hope.
Observers note that while the Taliban boast of eradicating drugs, their actions have worsened addiction-related suffering. The collapse of Afghanistan’s economy, mass unemployment, and the destruction of healthcare infrastructure have pushed many into despair. For women, the situation is doubly tragic addiction not only destroys their health but also invites social ostracism and state violence.
The ILO’s initiative in Ghazni, therefore, stands as an act of quiet defiance against a regime that thrives on the silencing of women. By giving recovering women the means to rebuild their lives, the organization reaffirms that dignity and progress cannot be extinguished by the Taliban’s medieval ideology.
This program forms part of the broader effort by the international community to confront the deepening social crisis caused by the Taliban’s misrule and to preserve the last remaining spaces of empowerment for Afghanistan’s women. As one of the women in the Ghazni training center told RASC News Agency, her voice steady but defiant: “The Taliban may take away our schools and our jobs, but they cannot take away our will to rise again.”
