The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has announced plans to issue an urgent appeal in the coming days to mobilize assistance for families affected by the recent earthquake in eastern Afghanistan.

Stephen Rodriguez, UNDP’s representative in Afghanistan, highlighted the organization’s concern over the disaster’s aftermath. “We will launch an emergency appeal in the coming days. I believe OCHA has mentioned September 8, and we call on member states and partners to act as quickly as possible,” he said.

Rodriguez noted that UNDP is working to provide comprehensive support to the affected communities, including health assistance and both temporary and permanent shelters. An initial aid package worth $8 million has been prepared to help rebuild the lives of those impacted.

“For UNDP, we estimate an initial 8 million dollars for the kind of work we would like to do, including rebuilding shelters, transitional and permanent houses for the communities, constructing some roads, and providing renewable energy for these households. But that is only a small component of the broader picture,” Rodriguez added.

Several countries, including the United Kingdom, Qatar, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, Russia, Japan, China, and Iran, have already provided emergency aid to assist victims of last week’s earthquake.

UNDP’s upcoming emergency appeal seeks to further strengthen international support to ensure affected communities receive the urgent help they need. (ILKHA)