These restrictions have created an urgent crisis for Afghanistan’s health system. Women who were studying to become nurses, midwives, or other medical professionals were forced to stop before completing their degrees, and today women cannot even enroll. The crisis is exacerbated by strict cultural norms that require many Afghan women to be seen by female providers, especially for reproductive and maternal health services.
Speaking from MSI’s center in Kabul, Afghanistan, MSI Country Director Dr. Muslih said: “Without enough trained female providers, lifesaving reproductive healthcare would simply vanish for women in Afghanistan, and more women would die without it.”
Since 2002, MSI Afghanistan has delivered care through years of political upheaval. As an Afghan-led NGO, it is one of the only organizations exempted from the ban on women working, letting it keep training and employing a workforce that’s 85% women. In 2025 alone, MSIA reached 1.1 million clients, preventing 99,300 unsafe abortions and 196,800 unintended pregnancies, while saving over $10 million in healthcare costs.
Since 2024, MSIA has offered paid internships to women forced to leave their degree programs. The internships provide women a pathway to strengthen their skills and gain valuable experience in delivering essential SRH services.
Over the last two years, the internship program has delivered transformative results, equipping women with the skills, confidence, and resilience needed to contribute meaningfully to Afghanistan’s healthcare system. For many, this program was their first opportunity in real clinical settings. By bridging the gap between classroom learning and firsthand practice, the program enabled interns to provide essential SRHR, FP and deliver care with professionalism and empathy.
Through three cohorts of paid internships, the program has supported 132 Afghan women – primarily those whose medical, midwifery, or nursing education was interrupted – to complete supervised clinical placements within MSIA facilities.
The MSI Afghanistan Health Provider Internship Program was part of a larger $1.2 million effort providing essential health care, mental health support, and community outreach for Afghan women and girls. That full program is now at risk of closing, and we urgently need your help to keep it running.
Demand has never been higher, 250 women across Afghanistan have already applied for the next cohort, set to begin in August. At just $2,000 per intern, your gift directly funds a woman’s path to becoming a health provider.
Together, we can train the women who want to become health providers and make sure Afghan women don’t lose access to the care they need.