Earthquake relief focus shifts to long term as aid groups pledge more

KABUL -- International and local relief organisations are shifting their focus from the immediate to longer term for areas of Afghanistan hit by last week's earthquake, officials said Monday (June 27).

Last Wednesday (June 22), a 5.9-magnitude earthquake hit Paktika province in the east the hardest, killing more than 1,000 people and leaving tens of thousands homeless. The quake hit Khost province hard too.

While aid and shelter have reached almost all areas affected, the longer-term prospects look bleak and assistance is limited in a country already in the grip of a humanitarian crisis.

The United Nations (UN) humanitarian agency Tuesday said that it and its partners had launched an appeal for $110 million to urgently help 362,000 people for the next three months in the worst affected areas of Paktika and Khost provinces.

Survivors need cash

"Our teams have observed that currently there is not so much of a need for food or non-food items," Nooruddin Turabi, deputy president of the Afghan Red Crescent Society, told a news conference in Kabul.

The most pressing need is for cash to enable those affected to buy basic materials to rebuild their lives, he said.

"We will discuss [with partners] a long-term plan. Currently, enough first aid has been delivered -- whether it is tents, shelter, food or other items."

The United States expressed sorrow over the deadly earthquake and said it would look for ways to help the Afghan people.

"The United States is deeply saddened to see the devastating earthquake that took the lives of at least 1,000 people in Afghanistan," said Jake Sullivan, President Joe Biden's national security adviser.

"President Biden is monitoring developments and has directed USAID and other federal government partners to assess US response options to help those most affected," he said, referring to the US Agency for International Development.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States was in touch with humanitarian groups active in Afghanistan that receive support from Washington.

"US humanitarian partners are already responding, including by sending medical teams to help people affected, and we are assessing other response options," Blinken said in a statement.

Women will be key

The UN Development Programme (UNDP) predicted that women would be at the centre of rebuilding communities hardest hit by the quake.

"When it comes to reconstruction of the local economy... we will make sure that women are at the core of that," said Abdallah Al Dardari, the UNDP resident representative.

"We are determined; there is no way around that -- and we believe, in fact, from the early signs from the ground, it will be women, who are actually today keeping those local communities alive," he told AFP.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said it was sending trauma teams to Paktika to help survivors deal with the psychological effects of the earthquake.

Hardly a family in rural Gayan district escaped the tragedy, and there are multiple reports of households with more than a dozen members killed.

"The exact numbers of casualties and houses/premises destruction are still not fully identified and not yet confirmed," the WHO said in its latest bulletin.

"Challenges remain in accessibility... traffic and road conditions in the affected areas have delayed the delivery of supplies."

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said that having dealt with the immediate needs of those injured in the quake, the focus was now on the weeks and months ahead.

"Now health needs are turning to dehydration and diarrhoea caused by a lack of safe water," said Jose Mas, MSF emergency co-ordinator.