This Applied Research Project reflects a collaboration between four Masters’ students, Chloé Levrat, Linda Bartolozzi, Lucía López, and Sera Choudhary, as part of their Master in International and Development Studies at the Geneva Graduate Institute and the Center for Human Rights Advocacy, an international non-governmental organisation, carefully supervised by the esteemed Executive Director of the Gender Centre of the Geneva Graduate Institute, Dr. Claire Somerville. Since the military takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban de facto authorities in August 2021, the rights and freedoms of women and girls have been systematically dismantled through an expanding set of decrees, directives, and practices that institutionalise a system of discrimination, segregation, and exclusion. Afghanistan’s women, civil society, international organisations, United Nations experts, States, and scholars have called for its recognition as gender apartheid. The ongoing operationalisation of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Afghanistan (IIM-A) and growing momentum towards the codification of gender apartheid as an international crime, presents a timely and significant opportunity to shape an effective response. Drawing upon research and consultations with experts and individuals from Afghanistan, this project offers recommendations for the way forward to advance accountability, prevention, and long-term transformative change. Each strategy proposed strives to ensure Afghanistan’s women and girls remain at the centre of all efforts ahead.