As formal employment opportunities for women continue to shrink under Taliban rule, access to livelihoods has become a critical form of protection and resilience for Afghan families. In response, the Organisation for Social and Economic Development (OSED) has focused its work on building women-led enterprises that can survive and grow despite restrictive conditions.

In 2025, OSED established a Business Development Centre to support, sustain, and incubate new women-led businesses. To date, the Centre has incubated 12 small businesses led by Afghan women, including technology service firms specialising in digital marketing and content creation, private schools, technical and vocational training centres, and community-based food distribution initiatives. These ventures provide women with income, skills, and a measure of economic autonomy in an environment where access to formal work has been systematically curtailed.

Alongside enterprise incubation, OSED expanded its women’s social entrepreneurship network, supporting 120 women-owned businesses in 2025, including 75 bakeries. This brings the total number of women-led enterprises within the network to more than 300. These women are now active economic actors, generating income, building professional skills, and strengthening their role within local communities. Building on this momentum, OSED is planning to scale its Community and Social Business Development Integrative Model, which links economic empowerment with community leadership and organisational skills. Following a successful pilot phase in 2025, Phase Two has been approved and will engage youth and small communities across the country, while training a new cohort of community development and social enterprise facilitators.