ISLAMABAD (AP) – Almost 100,000 children in Afghanistan are in dire need of support, three months after earthquakes devastated the country’s west, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said yesterday.
A 6.3-magnitude earthquake shook Herat province on October 7 and a second strong quake struck the same province days later, on October 11, killing more than 1,000 people. The majority of those dead in the quakes in Zinda Jan and Injil districts were women and children, and 21,000 homes were destroyed, UNICEF said in a statement.
“The atmosphere in these villages is thick with suffering even 100 days after the earthquakes in western Afghanistan when families lost everything,” said UNICEF representative in Afghanistan Fran Equiza.
“Children are still trying to cope with the loss and trauma. Schools and health centres, which children depend upon, are damaged beyond repair, or destroyed completely,” he added.
“As if this was not enough, winter has taken hold and temperatures hover below freezing,” Equiza said.
“Children and families without homes live in life-threatening conditions at night, with no way to heat their temporary shelters.”
UNICEF said it urgently needs USD1.4 billion in 2024 to meet the humanitarian and basic needs of 19.4 million Afghans, half of the population.
The Taliban’s failure to invest in public services has contributed to the deterioration of basic services, hindering the ability of vulnerable communities to recover and build resilience, the agency added.
Head of communications for UNICEF in Afghanistan Daniel Timme said schools, homes, health facilities and water systems were destroyed.
“We have money coming in but it’s not enough. These communities need to be independent again. It’s not enough to put out the fire. We need to make it (Afghanistan) more resilient,” Timme said.
