Urgent Relief Intervention To Help 2,100 Avalanche Victims in Afghanistan
Qatar Red Crescent (QRC) has launched an urgent relief program to help the victims of the snowstorm that hit Afghanistan late in February, burying and destroying many houses in several provinces.Implemented in cooperation with the Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS), the program will help 300 families (2,100 people) in Panjshir Province, northeastern Afghanistan.
This is the worst snowstorm to hit the country in 30 years. Early reports estimate the number of casualties in the worst-hit Panjshir at 196, in addition to more than 200 wounded and 15 missing. Almost 2,000 houses were damaged by snow slides, and all the population of the region lost their livelihoods, as they generally work as shepherds.
To avoid duplication with the relief efforts of the Afghan government and humanitarian organizations there, mostly focused on food and nonfood assistance, QRC Office in Afghanistan chose different areas to intervene, namely sheltering and economic empowerment.
To identify the most needy cases, a field assessment is conducted by ARCS staff and members of popular committees and the consultative council, under certain criteria — e.g., victims with no income; families whose breadwinners are women or children; and families with widows, orphans, or persons with disabilities.
QRC's intervention program involves renovating the snow-stricken houses, after investigating broken windows and doors and basic household elements, which will be repaired or replaced. Also, sheep will be purchased and distributed to poor families that lost their livelihoods, at a rate of two head of sheep per family, to help them make some money for the time being.
The heavy snowfall over the past couple of weeks caused a series of avalanches, which buried hundreds of houses in four provinces in the north of the country, claiming 316 lives and leaving several hundred wounded, said Mr. Mohamed Aslam Syas, the deputy director of the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA). "The toll is expected to rise further," he added.
Due to totally blocked roads, the emergency teams sent to the Panjshir Valley were unable to reach the snow-swept towns, which lie in a narrow valley surrounded by two mountain ranges, with only one access. Helicopters were used to deliver the medicines, blankets, and other humanitarian assistance offered by relief bodies in remote areas.