UNITED NATIONS( WNAM Monitoring): UN agencies have appealed for urgent funds to assist the hundreds of thousands affected by deadly earthquakes in western Afghanistan.
Struck by two massive earthquakes , followed a series of aftershocks, including a major one on Wednesday that flattened several homes . Women and children make up over 90 per cent of the victims, according to UN agencies.
Making the situation worse, on Thursday, a dust storm struck many affected villages destroying hundreds of tents, including many at the Gazergah Transit Centre, where many displaced families were sheltering. Families impacted were moved from the Centre to a school in Herat city where they will require food and non-food relief items, according to UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) launched a $14.4 million humanitarian appeal to provide shelters, heaters and warm clothes to survivors sleeping out in the open, ahead of the approaching bitter winter.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) issued an initial appeal earlier this week for $20 million to deliver emergency and trauma care for newborns and children, repair schools and healthcare facilities and provide psychosocial and mental health support to children and families.
UN agencies and partners, meanwhile, continue relief efforts and assess the scale of damage, following Wednesday’s aftershock.
In response, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) supplied over 95 tons of food rations and food commodities to thousands of affected people, while UNICEF, UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) delivered shelter, food and non-food assistance to over 550 families in 15 affected villages.
