Japan helps earthquake-affected people in Afghanistan

Kabul – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomes a USD 1 million contribution from Japan to provide emergency food assistance in the earthquake-affected Herat Province in the west of Afghanistan. This vital aid will help support nearly 33,000 thousand people affected by a series of earthquakes with magnitudes reaching 6.3 that struck Herat Province within a span of eight days this month. Dozens of villages were affected, many of them entirely flattened.
“Japan has been a steadfast supporter of the Afghan people and stands in solidarity with them also after these devastating earthquakes. We understand the gravity of the situation in Herat Province and are fully committed to extending our hand of support to help rebuild lives and communities,” said Mr Takatoshi Kuromiya, the Japanese Ambassador to Afghanistan.

WFP dispatched food to the affected areas within hours of the initial earthquake and as of 17 October, WFP had reached nearly 70,000 people with emergency food assistance. This includes fortified wheat flour, vegetable oil, pulses and salt as well as specialized nutritious foods to boost the nutrition condition and prevent malnutrition in children of the families that have lost everything and are living in tents next to the rubble of their homes.

“These earthquakes come at a time when already 15 million people across Afghanistan do not know where their next meal will come from and WFP only can support 3 million of them due to a funding crisis,” said Harald Mannhardt, WFP Afghanistan Deputy Country Director. “We needed to borrow the food for the first response from other programmes which shows how critical this latest contribution from Japan is for our effort to assist the most vulnerable families.” The contribution will significantly bolster WFP’s efforts to provide food security, restore dignity and help people in Herat Province rebuild their lives in the wake of this tragedy.

Based on initial assessments, WFP plans to support 118,000 people with emergency food assistance and longer-term resilience programmes that will help the communities rebuild their livelihoods.

The latest contribution from Japan comes on top of US$ 17.4 million already received earlier this year for WFP’s emergency response, nutrition services and the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service, managed by WFP. Japan has been among WFP Afghanistan’s top ten donors for the past five years.