The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has recently warned that the recent earthquakes in Afghanistan have placed women, children, people with disabilities, and the elderly at greater risk and vulnerability.
In a statement posted on its official X account, the agency wrote that the shortage of female aid workers has made addressing the needs of women and girls an urgent necessity.
The UNHCR further emphasized that Afghanistan was already facing severe drought and the return of millions of Afghan migrants from neighboring countries, and now the earthquakes have deepened the humanitarian crisis.
The international agency added that millions of people in the earthquake-affected areas are in urgent need of shelter, food, and medical care, and without international assistance, many lives are at risk.
The agency has called on the international community to urgently deliver humanitarian aid to those affected.
This call for the participation of women and girls in social and health services comes as a 6-magnitude earthquake struck eastern provinces of Afghanistan last night. More than 1,400 people were killed and over 3,000 others injured in the quake.
More than 5,000 homes were also destroyed in the earthquake.
