For many international organizations, that moment marked the end of their work in Afghanistan. For Hagar Afghanistan, it marked the beginning of the most demanding, most transformative chapter in our history there.
And that happened because donors like you refused to look away.
Hagar Afghanistan’s Story
Hagar Afghanistan’s presence in the country didn’t begin with the Taliban takeover. It started earlier in 2008, when we began work serving boy victims of exploitation and trafficking. When the political ground shifted beneath the entire country in August 2021, not only did Hagar and other organizations face a humanitarian crisis, we also faced the collapse of the system our work helped build.
Early Days of Chaos
When the Taliban swept back into power, no one fully knew what would happen next. Hagar’s team in Afghanistan faced the same fear that spread across nearly every international organization working in the country: that we would be forced to shut down entirely.
As banking systems collapsed overnight, our team turned to Hawala, an informal trust-based money transfer network to pay staff and keep programs running.
Catherine Kirkendall, Executive Director of Hagar’s US office remembers that season as a blur. The boys’ shelter and women’s program continued running, but nothing felt secure.
“I kept reminding myself that Hagar exists to help ‘least of these‘, those who fall through the cracks. And that’s whatAfghanistan is. We can’t just leave.”
— Catherine Kirkendall, Executive Director, Hagar USA office
Photographer: Sayed Habib Bidell
A Long, Uncertain Middle
If 2021 was chaos, the next months and years were exhausting and uncertain. Donors were hesitant to support the work in Afghanistan since the country seemed volatile and unpredictable. Many NGOs were withdrawing entirely, unable to sustain funding or safely keep expatriate staff in the country.
The rules also changed constantly and without warning. Women were allowed to work, then weren’t. Girls were allowed in school, then weren’t. Hagar’s team learned, in real time, just how carefully every word and action had to be weighed.
A question always remained: how can Hagar carry on this work?
The Pivot
One night, Hagar Afghanistan’s boys’ shelter was ordered to close, with the boys transferred to a government facility. It could have been a devastating loss. Instead, it became a critical turning point. Hagar had already been exploring community based care, where vulnerable children would access our programs while still living in family and community. The closure of the boys shelter accelerated the move to Hagar’s community-based protection center.
Your Support Fuels Hope
Afghanistan remains one of the harshest places on earth to be a child. The country has one of the highest prevalences of human trafficking and slavery in the world and nearly 90% of the population lives in poverty. For women and girls, the future is bleak, with most freedoms curtailed under Taliban rule.
But there is also a thread of hope: You.Hagar’s dedicated and compassionate donors have kept that thread of hope alive.
Here is what your support and generosity are making possible at Hagar Afghanistan right now:
Two girls’ community vocational centers — the only program of its kind in Afghanistan that serves girls ages 8 to 16 who have experienced extreme abuse. After sixth grade, girls in Afghanistan are barred from further schooling; for many, these centers are the only path toward learning a skill, earning a living, and staying with family rather than being married off young.
Two boys’ centerswhere vulnerable, abused and exploited boys access professional trauma care while living in family and community
A new mental health initiative, launching this month in partnership with the Afghan government, training and employing 90 psychologists and psychiatrists — some of the very first ever to join Hagar’s staff anywhere in the world.
These outcomes have only happened because you didn’t look away. Your generosity has supported a courageous local team that has stayed through hard times, fuelled programs that adapted to ever-changing demands and needs, and is ensuring that thousands of women, girls, and boys who are still being reached today.
