“Afghanistan is once again reeling from tragedy and children are at the sharp end of an aggravating crisis. We must respond not only with urgency, but with a commitment to immediately reverse it.
“They are bearing the heaviest burden after a powerful earthquake struck Kunar and Nangarhar provinces on 31 August, in the Eastern part of the country, followed by multiple severe aftershocks.
“The impact so far is devastating. At least 1,172 children have died, making more than half of the entire death toll. In addition, 45 children have been separated from their families, and 271 are newly orphaned.
“Earlier this week I joined an UNICEF response mission to the impacted areas and the devastation is staggering.
“So far, the crisis has claimed more than 2,164 lives, over 3,428 people have been injured, and at least 6,700 homes have either been destroyed or badly damaged. Behind these numbers are children left standing alone in the rubble and families torn apart in the blink of an eye.
“As always in such disasters, children are bearing the heaviest burden. Overall, more than half a million people have been impacted—among them, 263,000 are children who now face heightened risks.
“For them, this disaster comes on top of years of conflict, economic hardship and recurrent emergencies that have already robbed so many of their childhoods. Many of them were forced to grow far too quickly.
“In a heavily destroyed village called Machkandol in Nangahar Province, I met amid rubble, stones and broken straws, three sisters and a boy.
“The boy had his fingers broken from his rescue and the girls were completely disorientated and unaware of what had happened. They lost their family, their house and even the family’s livestock had died. It was truly heartbreaking.
“As I moved on to a field trauma hospital for the injured in Khas Kunar in Kunar Province, I met a five-year-old girl carrying her two-year-old sister, who had stitches all over her head. Both were praying that their hospitalized mother with severe fractures would survive.
“Across the hardest-hit areas in Kunar and Nangarhar, children are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. Many are now without shelter, grieving loved ones, and struggling to cope with trauma.
“In these remote mountain communities, children face multiple threats, including untreated injuries, unsafe water and sanitation, worsening malnutrition, interrupted schooling, and profound emotional distress.
“The affected districts are extremely difficult to access, with steep terrain, limited road access, and fragile infrastructure making every mission a real challenge for humanitarian workers. But we are staying and delivering, against all odds.
“Going from Jalalabad to the remote village of Machkandol, in Nangahar, took us three and a half hours, of which only 40 minutes were on paved roads. The rest was a rough mountain dirt road, often jammed with oncoming trucks and fallen rocks. Colleagues who went to the worst affected part in Kunar told me yesterday that the roads are even worse.
“UNICEF is literally going the extra mile and doing whatever it takes to reach these children and families with the support they need.
“Social norms further complicate the delivery of aid. That is why UNICEF and partners are prioritizing the deployment of female humanitarian workers to ensure that women and girls can access support safely and equitably.
“Girls in particular face unique risks. When homes are destroyed, girls are often the first to drop out of school, in a country where their right to education faces enormous barriers. When families lose livelihoods, girls are at greater risk of child marriage. And when health services are out of reach, adolescent girls are left without essential care.
