Afghanistan floods are double tragedy for families, says ActionAid

As the death toll from flash floods in northern Afghanistan rose past 300 on Sunday, ActionAid Afghanistan Country Director Srikanta Misra said: 

“It’s been a devastating weekend for families here. They have lost loved ones but have no time to mourn them as flooding continues to wreak havoc. Most of those affected are now out in the cold having lost their homes and everything they own. We have mobilised our team to assess the affected areas in three provinces – Nangarhar, Herat and Ghor.  

Sadly, it’s a double tragedy for families such as those in Zindajan district in Herat province, which was struck by a devastating earthquake eight months ago. ActionAid Afghanistan is still responding in this region. We stand in solidarity with the affected families. We have launched a needs assessment in the communities where we work to help them to get back on their feet.” 

Teresa Anderson, the Global Climate Justice Lead at ActionAid International, said: 

“The climate crisis continues to rear its ugly head.  With the latest incident, Afghanistan joins a long list of Global South countries grappling with floods this year. And this is as the world continues funding the climate crisis by expanding fossil fuels and industrial agriculture.  

How many more tragedies must happen for the world to prioritize climate action? It’s time to back climate action with the necessary climate funding. Communities, like those in Afghanistan, need this money to build resilience to climate impacts and pay for the losses and damages already caused by the climate crisis.” 

ENDS 

Contact the ActionAid press office on media-enquiries@actionaid.org or on +263 776665065