Climate change, deforestation, and unsustainable agricultural practices contribute significantly to drought conditions. Afghanistan’s steep terrain and arid plains make the country particularly vulnerable to water scarcity and extreme drought events. A large portion of the population relies on rainfall and groundwater for irrigated agriculture. Droughts can lead to crop failures, food shortages, and economic instability. Prolonged droughts have caused widespread food insecurity and malnutrition, particularly affecting children, the elderly, and women. Climate change has further intensified the frequency and severity of droughts, making adaptation increasingly difficult for impoverished and gender-vulnerable communities. Considering Afghanistan’s chronic water shortages and the critical role of women in agriculture, household economics, water management, and sustainable practices—each essential to community resilience—evaluating gender-responsive drought resilience is vital. This study utilized the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), land surface temperature (LST), and Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station data (CHIRPS) to derive drought indices, including the vegetation condition index (VCI), temperature condition index (TCI), and the standardized precipitation index (SPI). A drought severity map was developed using the random forest algorithm. Finally, gender-specific data, particularly related to gender-based population and population involved in the agriculture sector, were integrated with the drought severity map to delineate gender-based drought impact zones in the study area. Results indicated that in 2022, approximately 1.1%, 41.2%, and 46.9% of the study area experienced extreme, severe, and moderate drought, respectively. In 2023, these figures shifted to 2.5%, 70.5%, and 24.2%, demonstrating a substantial increase in drought severity over time. The drought-affected communities map revealed that 37.2% of the population in 2022 and 39.4% in 2023 were impacted by extreme to severe drought conditions within the study area. Therefore, assessing gender-responsive drought resilience in Afghanistan is crucial, considering the country’s vulnerability to water scarcity and the impact of climate change on women’s contributions to agriculture, home economics, water management, and sustainable practices, all of which contribute to community resilience. This research was conducted to gather reliable evidence for enhancing women’s access to water resources in Afghanistan through gender-sensitive policies. The results of the study effectively documented sustainable collaboration between Afghan government agencies, NGOs, local communities, and global collaborators in disaster risk reduction (DRR) and drought emergency management.