Incidents Update:

During the reporting period seven natural disaster incidents were reported.

Central Region:

Conflict activities almost doubled in February, hampering the implementation of humanitarian programs and harming humanitarian personnel and assets.

Incidents Update:

During the reporting period two natural disaster incidents were reported.

Central Region:

Story by U.S. Air Force Capt. John Callahan

International Security Assistance Force HQ

KABUL, Afghanistan (Feb. 2, 2013) – The Afghan winter poses a difficult – and sometimes deadly – challenge to refugees crowded into camps that surround the capital city. Overnight temperatures routinely dip below freezing, and the treeless countryside offers little in the way of firewood for the poorly-clothed refugees and their children.

By Nita Bhalla

NEW DELHI, (AlertNet) – The bitter cold of the Afghan winter is killing an increasing number of people, especially children, in urban slums where internally displaced Afghans struggle to survive, aid agencies said on Tuesday.

Read the full report on AlertNet.

21 January 2013

Afghanistan: Children among 17 dead in camps amid harsh winter conditions

At least 17 people, including 11 children, have died mostly from the cold in Afghanistan’s displacement settlements in early January, highlighting the desperate and immediate need for improved aid delivery during the bitter cold winter months, Amnesty International said.

Temperatures:

During the middle period of December, much below normal temperatures spread across Central Asia, with significant (< -8 degrees Celsius) negative anomalies over portions of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and southern Kazakhstan. Below-average temperatures have also persisted throughout the central highlands and northeast mountains of Afghanistan. During the next week, colder than average temperatures are forecast to continue throughout central and northeastern Afghanistan, where minimum temperature could fall between -30 and -25 degrees Celsius.

Precipitation

Afghanistan’s first search-and-rescue team was trained and equipped by USAID

29 October 2012 | Badakhshan, Afghanistan

Afghanistan’s first advanced search-and-rescue team (SART) went into service in Badakhshan recently. The team was trained and equipped under USAID OFDA’s Disaster Risk Reduction project.

The SART consists of 24 volunteers, including 10 women, from Badakshan-a province highly vulnerable to natural disaster, including earthquakes, landslides, floods, and other hazards.

PASHTUN KOT, 26 March 2012 (IRIN) - One hillside in Pashtun Kot District in the northern Afghan province of Faryab stands out. Dotted with graves, it is the final resting place for the victims of underdevelopment: Villagers travel from far-off mountains by donkey to bury their dead here - people whose demise was hastened by chronic hunger, undernutrition and lack of access to health care.