In 2018 and 2019, USIP partnered with the Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN), a Kabul-based research and policy organization, in an effort to understand how the Taliban provide education, health, and other services to people who live in areas where they are the dominant power. Based on a series of studies conducted by AAN in five districts across the country, the report also examines the Taliban's motivations as a governing entity and their implications for a potential peace settlement.

Students take an exam outdoors because their school had suffered extensive damage in fighting between Taliban and government forces. (Jim Huylebroek/New York Times)
Students take an exam outdoors because their school had suffered extensive damage in fighting between Taliban and government forces. (Jim Huylebroek/New York Times)

Summary

  • As the Taliban gained and consolidated their hold over territory, they were forced to become responsible for the well-being of local communities.
  • Even as the Taliban leadership remained focused on military objectives, in recent years they began to develop policies to deliver education and health services in particular, in some cases reversing earlier policies that denied these services.
  • A study of several diverse districts across Afghanistan reveals that the Taliban leadership has attempted to establish a certain uniformity in its governance of territory largely or partly under its control.
  • For example, while the Taliban have always allowed health officials to work in their areas, in part because they too need these services, they have taken increasing ownership of how these services are provided.
  • The Taliban initially opposed government schools, but they later developed policies that allowed schools to function, as well as permitting girls to attend school to age twelve.
  • Should there be a peace process, the Taliban and government will need to reconcile their differences on service delivery in the areas falling under their control.

About the Report

This report synthesizes eight district-level studies on how the Taliban deliver services in areas of Afghanistan where they have control or dominance. Funded by the United States Institute of Peace, the studies were carried out in 2018 and 2019 by the Afghanistan Analysts Network, an independent policy research organization based in Kabul.

About the Author

Scott S. Smith is a senior expert on Afghanistan at the United States Institute of Peace. Between 2017 and 2019 he was the political director at the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), and between 2012 and 2016 he was the director of USIP’s Afghanistan Program. He is the author of numerous articles on Afghanistan as well as the book Afghanistan’s Troubled Transition: Politics, Peacekeeping, and the 2004 Presidential Election (2011), and co-editor of Getting it Right in Afghanistan (2013).


Related Publications

How Afghanistan’s Economy Can Survive Shrinking Shipments of U.N. Cash Aid

How Afghanistan’s Economy Can Survive Shrinking Shipments of U.N. Cash Aid

Thursday, November 14, 2024

Afghanistan’s precarious economy is facing a new set of multidimensional risks as humanitarian aid — delivered in massive shipments of U.S. cash dollars — shrinks rapidly amid competing demands from other crises around the world. The dollar inflows, moved under U.N. auspices, have helped stabilize the Afghan economy, cover its mammoth trade deficit, and inject monetary liquidity into commerce. With much smaller cash infusions, in line with a general reduction in aid, the suffering of Afghanistan’s poverty-stricken population is likely to increase.

Type: Analysis

EconomicsGlobal Policy

Where is Afghanistan Three Years into Taliban Rule?

Where is Afghanistan Three Years into Taliban Rule?

Thursday, September 19, 2024

Lacking formal recognition from all member states, the Taliban will not be present at the U.N. General Assembly next week. Their absence speaks volumes about how the international community struggles to constrain a regime that has repeatedly defied U.N. treaties, sanctions and Security Council resolutions. Three years into Taliban rule, the Afghan people are beset by a host of human rights, economic and humanitarian challenges, with women and girls particularly impacted. Meanwhile, the international community still has no clear approach to dealing with the Taliban, with the regime rejecting a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a special envoy to develop a roadmap for normalizing Afghanistan’s relations with the international community.

Type: Question and Answer

EconomicsGenderGlobal PolicyHuman Rights

What an ICC Case on Mali Means for Prosecuting Taliban Gender Crimes

What an ICC Case on Mali Means for Prosecuting Taliban Gender Crimes

Wednesday, September 18, 2024

Since the Taliban took power in August 2021, the situation for Afghan women and girls has dramatically deteriorated. Yet there has been little international action, as many in the international community lament the lack of legal, and other, avenues to hold the Taliban accountable for these draconian measures. However, a recent case at the International Criminal Court (ICC) may provide a legal roadmap to prosecute the Taliban.

Type: Analysis

GenderHuman RightsJustice, Security & Rule of Law

View All Publications