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Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

FACT BRIEF

Does the US government fund gender equality initiatives in Afghanistan?

Saturday, March 13, 2021

By Stevie Rosignol-Cortez

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YES

A U.S. government body studying Afghanistan reconstruction reported in February 2021 on efforts to support gender equality in the country. The agency found that, since the U.S. invaded the country in 2002 until 2020, three agencies spent at least $787.4 million on programs supporting Afghan women and girls, yielding “mixed results” with some program designs “ill-suited to the Afghan context.”

The prospects of a durable political settlement with the Taliban cloud the outlook for maintaining the changes achieved so far, the report notes. “The effort to promote women’s rights may be hampered by a growing narrative in Afghanistan that the country can either have women’s rights at the cost of peace, or peace at the cost of women’s rights.”

In 2020 the U.S. pledged $300 million in further developmental assistance to support a number of goals, including women’s rights.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

Special Inspector General on Afghanistan Reconstruction: Support for gender equality

US Department of State: US relations with Afghanistan

US Agency for International Development: Women's empowerment and gender, Afghanistan

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Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

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Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.