UN Women: Female Aid Workers Deployed to Assist Women Affected by Northern Afghanistan Earthquake

Photo: AFP

UN Women in Afghanistan has announced that following Monday night’s earthquake in the north of the country, its teams, along with local partners, have been deployed to affected areas to assess the situation and assist women and girls in need.

In a message issued on today (November 4), the organisation said: “We working with local partners after earthquake in northern Afghanistan to assess the urgent needs of women and girls. We are supporting Afghan women humanitarians deploying with initial assessment teams to reach affected women and girls.”

The 6.3-magnitude earthquake, which struck Khulm district in Balkh province on Monday night (November 3), has so far left at least 20 people dead and more than 940 others injured in Balkh and Samangan provinces.

Hundreds of houses were destroyed in Khulm, Shulgara, and Hazrat Sultan districts, as well as parts of Mazar-e-Sharif and Aybak cities, with women and children among the victims.

The disaster occurred only weeks after the deadly earthquake in eastern Afghanistan, which claimed more than 2,000 lives.