UN Press Conference: Afghanistan Earthquake Aftermath and Humanitarian Response

Earthquake Impact and Immediate Needs

• 🌍 A 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan on August 31st, followed by significant aftershocks, devastating entire communities.
• 💔 Families have lost homes, farms, and livelihoods, with many sleeping outdoors exposed to the elements and lacking basic necessities.
• ⚠️ The immediate needs identified are water, tents, and food, with women and girls particularly emphasizing their need for water and adequate clothing.

Challenges in Humanitarian Access

• ⛰️ Remote and rural areas, even before the earthquake, were difficult to access, and now roads are blocked by landslides, hindering aid delivery.
• ⏳ The narrow, single-lane mountain tracks require extraordinary effort to navigate, with journeys taking hours and often requiring teams to walk significant distances.
• ❄️ With winter approaching at the end of October, access to these mountain valleys will be cut off by snow, making timely intervention critical.

Health Risks and Prevention

• 💧 The lack of clean drinking water and sanitation is alarming, especially with cholera endemic in the region and a high percentage of communities practicing open defecation.
• 📈 There is a significant potential for a cholera outbreak if immediate action is not taken to scale up WASH assistance.
• 🩺 Malnourished mothers and young children have been observed, highlighting the urgent need to scale up nutrition screening and treatment services.

Humanitarian Response and Funding

• 🚀 A response plan is being finalized to cover immediate life-saving needs, with flexibility and speed being critical.
• 💰 The UN's Emergency Fund (CERF) has released $5 million, and the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund will add another $5 million, but the scale of devastation demands significantly more funding.
• 🤝 OCHA is working with humanitarian partners and de facto authorities to ensure assistance reaches the most vulnerable, with an enabling environment reported for humanitarian operations.

Addressing Vulnerable Groups and Restrictions

• 🎯 Assessments prioritize identifying vulnerable households, including female-headed households and those with members with disabilities.
• 👩‍⚕️ Efforts are underway to increase the number of female aid workers to support distributions and provide essential services like nutrition and psychosocial counseling.
• ❓ Regarding reports of women being left behind during rescue operations due to Taliban restrictions, OCHA has not received direct reports from women on the ground, but acknowledges the complexities and variations in community conservatism.