HCI is mobilizing its community partners in the southeastern region of Paktika province in Afghanistan to provide emergency relief to vulnerable households following a magnitude 6.1 earthquake that hit around 1:24 am local time. Current reports confirm at least 1,000 people are dead, and an additional 1,500 are injured with numbers only expected to increase as local authorities continue search and rescue efforts to free trapped families from the rubble.
This is the deadliest earthquake in decades, however the situation has been exacerbated by ongoing conflict, economic scarcity, and food insecurity under Taliban rule since August 2015. As a result, over 24 million people need humanitarian assistance in order to survive. There is also growing evidence to suggest that seismic activity is on the rise as rising sea levels due to climate change place greater stress on fault lines. This trend is likely to exponentially increase, placing the world’s most vulnerable in harm’s way; especially women. (UNDRR)
Human Concern International’s response will reach the most critically vulnerable populations, including women, children, and those living with disabilities, as Afghanistan faces increasingly high rates of moderate disabilities (over 80% of adult population) and rapidly increasing severe disabilities among adults and children from 2.7% in 2005 to 13.9% in 2019. (The Asia Foundation) The intersection between economic vulnerability and disability creates a growing cycle of despair as a health-poverty-trap, where individuals and their families have rapidly decreasing resources and autonomy as they face continued hardship.
Our response is focusing on shelters, emergency food aid (including ready to eat meals) and clean water, distribution of non-food items including women’s hygiene products and supplies for infants and children as we focus on reducing the child mortality rate in the coming weeks. We are committed to delivering humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, and we will work in collaboration with NGO’s on the ground to deliver aid in an effective, efficient, and transparent manner.
About Human Concern International
Human Concern International is the first and oldest Muslim charity in Canada. We are committed to empowering communities to move themselves from crisis to sustainability through emergency response, education, healthcare, livelihoods, water and sanitation, and child sponsorship programs. We began from a community of faith in Ottawa, Canada in 1979 in response to the needs of Afghan refugees fleeing war. For HCI, charity starts at home, and we uplift our community in both times of need and celebration. Since 2019, we have provided over $20 million in relief in over 35 countries and territories including refugees across borders.
https://humanconcern.org/
https://humanconcern.org/afghanistan-appeal/