On October 15th, a third major earthquake impacted communities in western Afghanistan, affecting children and families that were already reeling from devastating 6.3 magnitude earthquakes on October 7th and 10th. More than 1,300 people have been reported killed following the first two earthquakes, over 90 percent of whom are children and women. As aftershocks continue and recovery efforts are underway, the number of casualties, injured, and damages to homes and critical infrastructure keep rising.
These earthquakes exacerbate the long-running humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, with children and families facing conflict, COVID-19, drought, and disaster.
Since the first earthquake, UNICEF teams have been responding and adapting to emerging needs, aiming to reach around 200,000 people, including 96,000 children. Staff are on the ground, providing emergency water trucking for 52,117 people, treating 5,240 people at health and nutrition clinics, supporting families with cash transfers, and distributing critical supplies, including medicine, tents, 1,200 cartons of ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF), hygiene kits, winter clothes, blankets, smaller tents, and beds. UNICEF is also providing individual and group psychological support for children and women to address severe psychosocial distress linked to this disaster, and supporting the establishment of child-friendly spaces.
With your help, UNICEF will continue to scale up its programming following these devastating earthquakes, to ensure children and families impacted receive critical, lifesaving support.
