Funding urgently needed as thousands homeless after Afghanistan quake, says UN
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People sitting outside a makeshift shelter after the earthquake in the Sawkay district of Afghanistan's Kunar province on Sept 8.
PHOTO: AFP
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GENEVA – Urgent funding is needed to scale up life-saving support for families forced to sleep outdoors following the powerful earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) is appealing for US$16.8 million (S$21.5 million), in line with the UN joint humanitarian appeal, to provide emergency shelter and healthcare for 134,000 people.
“Families have lost everything and are now sleeping in the open, without proper shelter, food or clean water,” said IOM deputy director-general Ugochi Daniels.
The 6.0-magnitude earthquake
The agency warned that the situation could worsen without urgent support as winter approaches, with women and children facing particular protection risks due to unsafe conditions, lack of privacy and limited access to basic services.
More than 2,000 families have already received assistance from IOM in Nangarhar and Kunar, after relief teams navigated blocked roads and damaged infrastructure.
IOM has raised the alarm that urgent funding is needed as the country faces multiple crises, including the return of more than 1.7 million Afghans from Iran and Pakistan in 2025.
According to IOM data, nearly 800,000 internally displaced persons and returning Afghan migrants already live in extremely vulnerable conditions in the affected provinces.
The UN considers Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis among the worst in the world, but funding is down 35 per cent from 2024 due to cuts from major donors, including the US. REUTERS
