Celebrating 20 Years of Peace Through Business in Afghanistan, Five Years After the Ban on Girls’ Education

Manizha Wafeq, PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS Program Director

July 20, 2026 

As we welcomed the 2026 PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS (PTB) class in Afghanistan, we celebrated an extraordinary milestone: 20 years of investing in Afghan women entrepreneurs through education, mentorship, and leadership development.

This year, we received 65 applications from women entrepreneurs representing 18 provinces across Afghanistan. While we originally planned to select a smaller cohort, we decided otherwise. Every applicant will be enrolled because every woman who seeks to learn deserves the opportunity.

Their businesses tell the story of their resistance to the restrictive regime they must live under. They produce dairy products, cultivate crops, process agricultural goods, weave carpets, create handicrafts, tailor clothing, make jewelry, package spices, and provide agricultural services. Together, they represent the ingenuity, determination, and entrepreneurial spirit that continues to sustain families and communities despite extraordinary challenges. 

In the kickoff session on July 19th, 2026, one young woman in her early twenties shared that she graduated from high school and had just started to study computer science when the republic collapsed and the Taliban retook the country. Instead of a computer programmer, she is now running a tailoring workshop. One was about to become a doctor, and another was an active lawyer, and both have turned into entrepreneurs because of the need and the only venue open to women. All the participants, during their introductions, said they have dreams, aspirations, and plans to expand the businesses they have established, and they are lucky to have joined the long-standing PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS program and family. 

For twenty years, PTB has stood beside these women. Since the program began in Afghanistan in 2007, we have trained approximately 1,000 women entrepreneurs from 22 provinces, providing practical business education, one-on-one mentorship, leadership development, and access to national and international business networks. Many graduates have expanded their enterprises, created jobs, mentored other women, and become influential leaders in their communities. Some of us helped establish institutions, including the Afghanistan Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, that continue to support women entrepreneurs today.

But this anniversary carries a deeper meaning. It has now been five years since Afghan girls were barred from secondary and higher education. During those same five years, women have faced sweeping restrictions on employment, mobility, and participation in public life. For millions, opportunities to learn, grow professionally, and pursue their aspirations have been dramatically curtailed.

In this context, educational programs for women are no longer simply capacity-building initiatives—they are lifelines.

Entrepreneurship education has become one of the few remaining avenues through which Afghan women can continue to develop their knowledge, strengthen their leadership, and invest in their futures. Every training session, mentoring conversation, and business plan represents far more than business development. It is an affirmation that learning still matters, that knowledge still has value, and that women continue to deserve opportunities to realize their full potential.

PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS has never been only about starting businesses. It has always been about building confident leaders, strengthening local economies, and creating networks of women who support one another. The businesses these women lead provide incomes for families, preserve traditional industries, create employment, and contribute to their communities’ resilience.

As we celebrated our twentieth year, I am inspired not only by the program’s longevity but also by the determination of the women who continue to apply. Despite uncertainty and enormous barriers, they still believe that education can change their businesses, their families, and their futures.

Their belief reminds us of an important truth: while policies can close classroom doors, they cannot extinguish the desire to learn.

The continuation of PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS over the past two decades—and specially over the past five years—has been possible only because of the unwavering commitment of the Enterprising Women Foundation and Monica Smiley. Their belief that women’s economic empowerment remains essential, particularly in times of crisis, has ensured that Afghan women continue to have access to education, mentorship, and a global community that believes in their potential.

As we welcomed our newest class, we celebrated more than twenty years of a successful program. We celebrate twenty years of women refusing to stop learning.

Because now, more than ever, continuing women’s learning matters.

MANIZHA Wafeq is a Program Director of the Enterprising Women Foundation’s Peace Through Business Program.   To learn more or donate to support the program, please visit www.enterprisingwomenfoundation.org.