The IRC is preparing to launch an emergency response in eastern Afghanistan, where an earthquake measuring 6.0. has caused at least 800 deaths across four provinces and severely damaged homes and health infrastructure.
Among the worst affected areas, entire villages have been destroyed while heavy rains and flooding prior to the earthquake has left much of the mountainous areas inaccessible. The IRC is coordinating with other actors on the ground to conduct a needs assessments to understand the full extent of the damage and will deploy emergency mobile medical teams in Nangarhar and Laghman provinces.
Sherine Ibrahim, IRC Afghanistan Director, said,
“This latest earthquake is likely to dwarf the scale of the humanitarian needs caused by the Herat earthquakes of 2023. Within the first twelve hours, at least 2,000 people are reported to have been injured and entire roads and communities have been cut off from accessing nearby towns or hospitals.
“The IRC will launch an emergency response in Nangarhar and Laghman provinces where our teams already have a deeply rooted presence. This response will comprise mobile health teams that will deploy to the worst-affected areas and provide health services including first aid, maternal and newborn healthcare and the distribution of medicines and medical supplies.
“Although we have been able to act fast, we are profoundly fearful for the additional strain that this disaster will have on the overall humanitarian response in Afghanistan. Global funding cuts have dramatically hampered our ability to respond to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. It is high time that the international community recognizes the immense need in the country and steps up support for Afghans who are in critical need.”
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) began work in Afghanistan in 1988 and now works with thousands of villages across eight provinces. As Afghanistan struggles to recover from years of conflict and natural disasters, the IRC works with local communities to identify, plan and manage their own development projects, provides safe learning spaces in rural areas, basic health services to remote and hard to access communities, cash distribution provides uprooted families with tents, clean water, sanitation and other basic necessities, and helps people find livelihood opportunities as well as extensive resilience programming.
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