Women's share of Afghan labour market shrinks to 5% under Taliban, UN says

By Emma FargeGENEVA, Aug 18 (Reuters) - The portion of women in Afghanistan's workforce has fallen to just 5% since the Taliban takeover five years ago, according to the International Labour Organization, which called for measures to address their "severe exclusion".• Female labour force participation fell to less than a third of its previous level, to 5.1% in 2026 from 16.5% in 2020.• In contrast, male employment has expanded rapidly, the ILO said.• "Afghanistan cannot build a resilient labour market while such a large share of its population remains excluded from economic activity," said Tite Habiyakare, senior coordinator and head of the ILO Office for Afghanistan.• The report attributed the decline to Taliban restrictions curtailing women's education and employment. Afghanistan has the second-lowest level of female employment in the world after Yemen, it said.• However, the number of women's businesses has increased ten-fold since the takeover because of their exclusion from many other professions, according to the U.N. Development Programme.• Overall, Afghan employment increased by 14% from a 2022 low, reaching 8.5 million in 2026, the ILO said.• However, it has not kept pace with rapid population growth amid large-scale returns of Afghans from neighbouring countries like Pakistan, the report said. (Reporting by Emma Farge; Additional reporting by Rick Noack in Islamabad, Editing by Miranda Murray) AL-MONITOR All-Access gives you unlimited access to all our journalism, the full Daily Briefing, exclusive interviews, premium newsletters, and live events — for less than $2/week.