urgent: AFGHANISTAN
EARTHQUAKE

On Monday, September 1, a powerful 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan, killing more than 2,200 people. Families were asleep when their homes collapsed in the middle of the night, making it the country’s deadliest earthquake in nearly 30 years.

"In seconds, everything was lost for thousands of children. Every family I saw in Kunar had lost multiple members. This is a terrifying time for children. The fear and grief children are carrying will not disappear when the rubble is cleared." Samira Sayed Rahman, Programmes and Advocacy Director, Save the Children in Afghanistan.

CHILDREN ARE AMONG THE MOST VULNERABLE IN THE AFTERMATH.

We have already deployed a mobile health team for the affected children and families in both Nangarhar and Kunar provinces. Our mobile health team had prepositioned hygiene kits, shelter repair kits, tarpaulins, education kits and other resources prepositioned in warehouses to allow rapid responses to emergencies across Afghanistan. We have also set up a childcare tent in Kunar, where many families have arrived in search of help. Staff are providing essential psychosocial support for children, as well as a safe space where parents and caregivers can leave their children while they search for missing relatives or register for assistance.

Your help is urgently needed now. By giving to Save the Children’s Emergency Fund, you’ll ensure we can respond quickly to this earthquake and future crises, reaching children with lifesaving assistance when it matters most. 

PLEASE DONATE TODAY AND SAVE LIVES.

This devastating earthquake comes as Afghan children are already facing a critical humanitarian emergency. Unprecedented levels of hunger and malnutrition, a crippling economic crisis and the worst drought in 30 years have already left 2 in 3 people across the country in need of humanitarian support. Save the Children is deeply concerned about the impacts this earthquake will have on children and families already struggling to cope on a daily basis. 

Save the Children has been working in Afghanistan since 1976, but the scale and severity of the current crisis is like nothing we have ever seen before. We have programmes in nine provinces and work with partners in an additional seven provinces, delivering health, nutrition, education, child protection, shelter, water, sanitation, and hygiene, and food security and livelihood support. 

We are coordinating with partners to get emergency assistance to the most impacted areas in Herat and are planning to provide families with emergency cash grants. These grants will help them buy life-saving items like food, clean water, and materials to rebuild their homes and cover medical bills.

Please donate to our Children Emergency Fund. Emergency responders are on the ground right now, but they are being overwhelmed by the scale of the need. Save the Children is coordinating with partners to get emergency assistance to the most impacted areas, to help families meet their immediate needs and to recover and rebuild their lives. By supporting our Emergency Fund, you can help us be there for children in Afghanistan and other emergencies around the world.

The needs are huge, but so is our determination to reach every last child in crisis. 

We have the experience to limit the effects of disasters on children's lives - and our Child Emergency Fund is the key to unlocking this expertise. Thanks to your support, we can help millions of children in their darkest hour.

Please give now to our Child Emergency Fund today.

Our Child Emergency Fund is a central pot of funding for emergencies. It gives us the flexibility to respond quickly and wherever the need is greatest. Your donation will allow our response teams to react to emergencies around the world:

• $75 can provide a family with a hygiene kit which includes soaps, toothbrushes, towels, washing powder and pads.
• $120 can provide a family of eight with basic food commodities for a month.
• $500 can help reunite a lost child with their family after a disaster.

Your gift is urgently needed for these children and their families. Donate now to save the lives of children in crisis.