In November 2024, The What If conducted a follow up dialogue  to better understand what were the practical solutions people in Afghanistan are implementing to live despite the sanctions imposed on their country by the international community. 

 Objective of the Dialogue


To assess how international sanctions on the Taliban are affecting Afghan civilians, particularly economically, and to explore solutions that empower local resilience without empowering the regime.

Participants’ Backgrounds


Women’s rights activists, journalists, political analysts, youth leaders, and diaspora members. Many had direct experience with humanitarian work, civil society organizing, or running small-scale economic initiatives under Taliban rule.

War is not the solution. Dialogue and negotiation should be the way forward.

 Five Key Takeaways:

Sanctions Hurt People More Than Powerholders
Participants widely agreed that current sanctions are symbolic at best and counterproductive at worst. They disproportionately affect ordinary Afghans, limiting access to banking, humanitarian aid, and economic opportunities, while the Taliban continue to receive indirect support and revenue.

Economic Collapse Fuels Social Breakdown and Despair
 Speakers highlighted the ripple effects of economic desperation: youth migration, child marriage, violent crime, and societal disintegration. Factories close under taxation, families are forced to sell assets, and the informal economy turns to begging. As one participant put it, “We all have become beggars. Even in Western countries, the first thing Afghans think about is, ‘Where can I get help? Where can I get a gift or a salary?”

Why are we stuck in thinking about handouts? Because our mindset is small. We need to expand the mindset of our people, broaden their vision, and show them that the world has reached this point by overcoming obstacles.

Solutions Must Come from Within, Not Just the West
While some participants criticized international inaction, most emphasized Afghan-led solutions. From reviving traditional crafts to investing in local agriculture and women-led home industries, participants urged shifting focus from dependency to self-sufficiency, starting at the community level.

Women’s Economic Participation Is Central to Recovery
Speakers stressed that supporting women’s handicraft, tailoring, and small-scale business initiatives could rebuild family economies. However, without access to basic tools like sewing machines, many skilled women are left unable to support their households. Micro-investments in women’s productivity were called “the fastest path to stability.”

Afghan women are skilled in handicrafts, and their work is of very high quality; for example, embroidery, needlework, and other artisanal crafts. If women receive support, any kind of support, such as access to the equipment they need, they can solve their own problems as well as those of their families, children, and husbands.

Unity and Political Vision Remain Elusive but Crucial
 Internal divisions continue to undermine collective action. Several participants warned that no economic strategy would succeed without also building national unity. Learning from countries like Singapore and Ethiopia, where diverse groups coexist under shared purpose, was proposed as a model.

If we do not accept each other, our country will not prosper.We will prosper when we accept each other. 

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All participants names are withheld to protect their anonymity and safety.

We used AI to help us with the summary of the dialogue’s transcript, and with the copy editing of the final draft.