A magnitude 6.0 earthquake in eastern Afghanistan flattened mountain villages, killing over 1,400 people and injuring thousands while aftershocks continue. Blocked roads and remote, mountainous terrain are hindering rescue and medical access as teams including Save the Children mobile health staff attempt to reach affected communities. Nearly 23 million people require humanitarian assistance this year, with more than 9 million facing acute food insecurity before October and at least 2 million returnees from Iran and Pakistan. Children are disproportionately affected and need immediate medical care, clean water, shelter and psychosocial support, yet aid cuts have closed programmes and constrained life-saving operations.
Aid cuts have shuttered clinics and stalled relief; restore funding now to save lives. As a ruthless magnitude 6.0 earthquake ripped through eastern Afghanistan this week, it flattened entire mountain villages and shattered the fragile lives of thousands, particularly children, who were already grappling with soaring humanitarian needs and funding cuts. This earthquake, centred in the provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar, has already killed more than 1,400 people and the number is expected to rise,
Thousands more are injured, with entire villages levelled in remote, mountainous terrain where roads are blocked, and rescue teams including Save the Children mobile health staff are battling to reach those in need. But this is not just another natural disaster it is a collision of disasters for Afghanistan, where nearly 23 million people or just less than half of the population need humanitarian assistance this year.
Children need immediate medical attention, clean water, shelter and psychosocial support to recover from trauma. Yet these essential operations are being constrained curtailed by aid cuts inflicted upon the global humanitarian system. This year, international donors have cut foreign aid budgets. These decisions have come at exactly the wrong time. About 126 programmes run by Save the Children globally had been shut down by cuts in aid as of May, affecting about 10.3 million people.
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