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When 15-year-old Salma* bid farewell to her family to visit her grandmother, she never imagined it would be their last moment together.

On August 31, a devastating earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan, shattering lives, homes, and communities. Salma’s grandmother’s house is in a nearby village and withstood the earthquake, but she was anxious for the rest of her family. “When I returned in the morning, I saw our house had collapsed with my parents and siblings underneath,” she told UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. “The rescuers also pulled the bodies of my mother and three siblings from the rubble, but it was too late.”

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More than 2,200 lives have been lost, with over 3,600 injured — many of them women and girls.

There are 11,600 pregnant women without access to any sanitary or health facilities. Pregnancy already comes at a high risk in Afghanistan, which has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the Asia-Pacific region.

UNFPA is on the ground, leading critical relief efforts. We have deployed five mobile health teams, including 16 female midwives and 13 male health workers, to provide essential maternal and reproductive healthcare, psychosocial support, and general medical services to those in even the most inaccessible areas. So far, we have helped provide lifesaving services to 9,500 people .

Maska , a UNFPA-supported psychosocial counselor, told us, “Women and children in particular are extremely traumatized. Our goal is to support their emotional and mental health and provide whatever assistance we can, including medicines and Dignity Kits.”

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Maska delivers care to women amid destruction in Afghanistan. Several strong aftershocks have contributed to over 6,700 destroyed or damaged homes.

Due to severe funding cuts, our capacity to continue this crucial work is at risk. As UNFPA Representative Kwabena Asante-Ntiamoah emphasized, “The health and safety of women and girls is our top priority in this emergency. For pregnant women, a natural disaster can turn an already challenging time into a life-threatening crisis.”

Now, more than ever, survivors need your help. “At this critical moment, the affected people need our help,” said Maska. You can ensure that women and girls continue to receive essential care.

Please, consider making an urgent gift today to provide supplies, medicines, and Dignity Kits to survivors. Your support can transform despair into hope in Afghanistan and crisis regions and sustain lifesaving care. [[link removed]?]

MAKE AN URGENT GIFT [[link removed]?]

Thank you for supporting Salma, Maska, first responders, our health teams, and the countless others who rely on your compassion and care to save lives.

— USA for UNFPA

*Name changed for privacy and safety
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