3 Months After Afghanistan Earthquakes, UNICEF Aids Families Facing a Bitter Winter
UNICEF is working to meet the needs of children and families still reeling from recent earthquakes in Herat province, western Afghanistan. More help is needed.
Over 1,000 people, most of them women and children, lost their lives when a series of devastating earthquakes struck Herat province in western Afghanistan in October 2023. Countless families lost livelihoods, livestock and crops; 31,000 homes were destroyed or severely damaged.
Three months later, the impact of Herat's earthquakes lingers, with many families still living in tents or sleeping in the open, despite the deepening winter cold.
“The atmosphere in these villages is thick with suffering even 100 days after the earthquakes in western Afghanistan when families lost absolutely everything," said Fran Equiza, UNICEF Representative in Afghanistan. "Children are still trying to cope with the loss and trauma. Schools and health centers, which children depend upon, are damaged beyond repair or destroyed completely.
"As if this was not enough," Equiza continued, "winter has taken hold and temperatures hover below freezing. Children and families without homes live in life-threatening conditions at night, with no way to heat their temporary shelters.”
Within days of the earthquakes, UNICEF responded by trucking clean, safe water to affected communities and establishing temporary health facilities to treat the injured. Health workers were deployed and emergency supplies distributed, including blankets, tarpaulins, family kits with cooking equipment, and warm clothing.
Since the initial response, UNICEF has converted tented health posts into more permanent facilities in shipping containers. Almost 90,000 medical cases have been treated by health and nutrition teams; nearly three-quarters of those treated are women and children.
To give children a safe place to play and learn, UNICEF set up 61 temporary learning spaces and 61 Child-Friendly Spaces, where almost 3,400 children, more than half of them girls, have been able to continue basic education. Rehabilitation work on destroyed classrooms will begin shortly.
UNICEF continues to truck safe water to nearly 19,000 people. To help families survive the winter, 5,400 will receive cash assistance to help cover their basic needs.
But much more help is needed as winter's freezing temperatures exacerbate existing hardships.
“We are grateful to our donor partners who mobilized resources quickly, enabling UNICEF to respond within days to the urgent needs of children and their families in Herat — but thousands still need our help," Equiza said.
Many families have been unable to rebuild their homes. They urgently need health care, safe water and proper sanitation to ward off disease outbreaks and prevent further suffering. Families who have lost livelihoods and crops are at risk from hunger and malnutrition.
"UNICEF is concerned about the survival of 96,000 children affected by the earthquakes if we are not able to provide the services they need to recover," added Equiza. "We count on continued support to ensure that children not only survive the winter but have a chance to thrive in the months and years to come.”
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