As an 2nd generation diasporan of Iran, I have learned that distance does not make what happens in Iran feel distant. I may build my life elsewhere, but Iran remains part of me. When I read about rising prices, disappearing jobs, families struggling to afford basic necessities, and women once again being pushed to the margins of economic life, I do not see numbers on a page. I think about women trying to hold their families together while the ground beneath them keeps shifting.
War is often measured in what can be photographed: damaged buildings, military strikes, casualties, and destroyed infrastructure. But there is another cost that is quieter and can continue long after the fighting ends. It appears in an empty refrigerator, a rent payment that can no longer be made, a job that suddenly disappears, or a mother calculating which necessity her family will have to go without.
The Economic Impact of War on Iranian Women
For Iranian women, this economic insecurity is especially troubling because their position in the labor market was already fragile. According to IranWire, only around 12 percent of working-age women are employed, despite women comprising more than half of Iran’s university students and graduates. Following the recent war, approximately 147,000 people applied for unemployment insurance, and women accounted for one-third of those applications, or roughly 49,000 women.
Those numbers stay with me because every one represents a life interrupted. Losing a job is frightening anywhere, but when employment opportunities for women are already limited, losing that income can mean losing much more than a paycheck. It can mean losing independence, postponing education, becoming financially dependent on others, or remaining in an unsafe situation because there is nowhere else to go.
Rising Costs and Economic Insecurity
At the same time, Iranian households are confronting extraordinary pressure from rising prices and declining purchasing power. Reporting on the post-war economy has described layoffs, business closures, rapidly increasing living costs, high inflation, and severe pressure on working families. For women already balancing paid employment with caregiving and household responsibilities, another economic shock can make an already difficult situation unbearable.
This is why I believe we have to look beyond the immediate destruction when we talk about the consequences of war. Economic recovery is a women’s issue too.
Women’s Economic Empowerment and Post-Conflict Recovery
Research on conflict-affected societies reinforces this. A UK government review of evidence from fragile and conflict-affected states finds that women’s economic empowerment can strengthen household resilience, contribute to post-conflict economic recovery, rebuild social cohesion, and address inequalities that contribute to fragility. UN research has similarly found that conflict-affected communities experiencing faster economic recovery and poverty reduction tended to be communities where more women reported higher levels of empowerment.
For me, this carries a simple message: Iran cannot truly recover if its women are left behind.
Rebuilding Women’s Economic Independence
Recovery cannot only mean rebuilding roads, businesses, or infrastructure. It must also mean rebuilding people’s ability to support themselves. Women need access to education, practical skills, employment, entrepreneurship, financial resources, and safe spaces where they can recover emotionally as well as economically. Women’s economic independence is not a secondary concern to be addressed after a crisis has passed. It is part of how families and communities survive the crisis in the first place.
Where OMID Foundation Can Help
This is where organizations such as OMID Foundation can make a meaningful difference. OMID works with women and girls affected by trauma, poverty, and displacement across Persian-speaking communities through trauma recovery, education, vocational training, and life-skills programs. Its educational and vocational programs include digital literacy, English-language education and entrepreneurship training that teaches practical skills such as budgeting, pricing, marketing, and business planning.
Building Skills, Confidence, and Independence
These opportunities matter enormously during economic uncertainty. A woman who develops digital skills may find new employment. A woman who learns how to build a small business may create an income when traditional jobs disappear. A woman receiving trauma-informed support alongside education may begin rebuilding both her confidence and her independence.
As an Iranian in diaspora, I cannot separate Iran’s future from the future of its women. I hope for an Iran where women do not merely survive one crisis after another, but have the tools and opportunities to build secure lives of their own.
Because when we count the cost of war, we must count what women have lost.
And when the time comes to rebuild, we must make sure women are part of what is rebuilt.
Learn More and Get Involved
Learn more about OMID’s work and how you can get involved:
- Learn about OMID’s programs: Education & Vocational Training
- Learn about OMID’s trauma recovery work: Trauma Management Programs
- Volunteer or get involved: Volunteer with OMID
- Learn how OMID works: How We Do It
- Interested in partnering with OMID? Collaborate with OMID