One month after a devastating 6.3-magnitude earthquake and multiple aftershocks struck eastern Afghanistan, over 212,000 surviving children remain at severe risk of deadly disease outbreaks due to widespread destruction of water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure, UNICEF warned today.
132 water sources have been destroyed, leaving families without access to safe water and handwashing facilities. With most latrines in shatters, four out of five communities are now practicing open defecation. Most survivors are also lacking access to essential hygiene items like soap. The conditions are ripe for outbreaks of acute watery diarrhea, which is prevalent in the region and other waterborne diseases. Health centers are already reporting an alarming increase in various kinds of skin rashes, dehydration and acute watery diarrhea cases. Urgent action needs to be taken to avoid a full-blown health emergency.
"The earthquake has flattened homes and taken too many lives, and now threatens to take even more through disease," said UNICEF Representative in Afghanistan, Dr. Tajudeen Oyewale. "Children who survived the quake are now living either in crowded displacement camps in the valleys or in makeshift shelters close to their destroyed mountain villages with no toilets, no safe water to drink, and no means to stay clean. This is a perfect storm for a health catastrophe."
The destruction of latrines and water systems has also left the many survivors who have not moved to displaced camps, in particular women and girls, exposed to increased risks of gender-based violence and other protection concerns due to the lack of safe, private sanitation options.
UNICEF is working with partners to deliver lifesaving support, including:
- Temporary emergency water trucking to the worst-affected areas and in parallel the installation and repair of water supply systems
- Installation of temporary sanitation facilities
- Distribution of hygiene kits
- Hygiene promotion activities to prevent the spread of disease
Despite these efforts, the WASH response remains critically underfunded, since only half of UNICEF's USD 21.6 million appeal is secured. UNICEF urgently calls on donors to step up funding for the emergency response. The time to scale up the water, sanitation and hygiene response for the survivors of the earthquake is now.
