More than 1,000 people are reported to have died in Herat Province, western Afghanistan, in the 6.3 magnitude earthquake that struck the country on 7th October.
At least 1,600 people have been injured but numbers are expected to increase.
Thousands of people have lost everything and are in urgent need of basic necessities.
We are already on the ground in Herat, intervening with emergency relief and assessment activities to start distributions of basic non-food items such as blankets, sleeping bags, mattresses and hygiene kits.
Our staff told us that several families have lost everything. Houses have been destroyed and the numbers of casualties remains unknown in several villages across the epicentre of the quake. As search and rescue operations are ongoing, people who survived are also looking for their loved ones.
For the past few years, we have been working in the province of Herat to support single women who are their families’ breadwinners.
Along with our partners, and thanks to the support of the majority of ChildFund Alliance members, namely ChildFund New Zealand, ChildFund Deutschland, Barnfonden, ChildFund Australia, Educo and ChildFund Korea, we work to ensure access to food to women and their children.
