“While the major aftershocks have passed, or have mostly passed, women in affected areas are facing a long-term disaster without more urgent assistance,” said Susan Ferguson, UN Women Special Representative in Afghanistan.

One woman rescuer supported by the UN agency described “scrambling” along the sides of mountains, “dodging falling rocks every time there was an aftershock”, Ms. Ferguson told journalists in Geneva. “Another woman who joined these teams, again with our support, said there was no other channel for women to share their needs and concerns, as they are restricted from speaking to men.”

Fleeing with nothing

In the more than two weeks since a shallow 6.0 magnitude earthquake hit eastern Afghanistan, rescuers have battled extremely challenging terrain – often on foot – to reach the most remote communities in Kunar province. 

At least 2,200 people were killed as houses built on steep hillsides collapsed on top of each other when the quake happened at around midnight on 31 August.

After meeting women survivors living in a basic tent in Chawkay district in central Kunar province, Ms. Ferguson said it was clear that they would soon need sturdier shelter, as temperatures start to drop.

“These women had fled their village in the middle of the night when the earthquake struck, walking for hours to find temporary shelter,” she said. 

“They told me they’d lost their relatives, many still buried in the rubble. They lost their homes; they lost their livelihoods and their source of income. As one woman said to me, ‘now we have nothing.’’’ 

Ban on female workers

The humanitarian response to the disaster has been hampered by the Taliban leadership’s ban on Afghan women staff members and contractors from entering UN compounds in the capital, Kabul, effective since 5 September.

“The ban is impacting us because our women staff are not allowed to come to the office to work,” the UN Women representative said. 

“However, women staff and women in the humanitarian response are still able to operate in the earthquake-affected sites. And this is really essential and has been recognised actually as essential.”

Women and girls accounted for more than half of those killed and injured in the disaster. They also make up 60 per cent of those still missing, while many survivors live in tents or out in the open, as witnessed by UN Women assessment teams. 

Cultural chasm

Providing healthcare to survivors of the tragedy remains a priority – as does finding enough women to do this work, in line with culturally accepted practices. “What I heard from health workers and from some women was that there was a particular area in the earthquake-affected zone where there were cultural norms that meant that women themselves didn’t want men to touch them and that men also didn’t want to touch women as they were trying to rescue them,” Ms. Ferguson explained.

Destruction of basic infrastructure has heightened the threat of violence against women and girls as they are forced to walk further in search of a bathroom, or gather water, exposing them to the risk of violence and landmines.

“In everyday life, in this cultural context, these women already face an uphill battle every day to survive and support their families,” Ms. Ferguson said. “Now, in the disruption and chaos following the earthquake, these women will find it exponentially harder to feed their children and find a safe place to stay.”

Satellite images have revealed that more than 649,000 tonnes of debris – equivalent to 40,500 truckloads – still need to be cleared. According to the UN Development Programme (UNDP) which analysed the data at least 23,000 people may have been forced from their homes. 

The appeal comes a day after “armed individuals” robbed four UNICEF trucks carrying desperately needed Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF).

The incident occurred outside its compound in Gaza City, where an Israeli military offensive is escalating.

Nearly 3,000 children impacted

“The individuals commandeered the drivers at gun point and diverted the RUTF before releasing the drivers and trucks,” the agency said in a statement.

“This theft has denied at least 2,700 severely and acutely malnourished children of life-saving RUTF – vital supplies at a time when famine has been declared in the north of Gaza and the ongoing military operation is creating further displacement and adding to the devastating impact on children.”

UNICEF urged all in Gaza to respect and protect humanitarian aid and uphold international humanitarian law.

“Children are bearing the heaviest burden,” the statement said. 

“Ultimately, a sustainable ceasefire is essential to create an environment where such incidents no longer occur, and aid can reach those who need it most – safely, quickly, and effectively.”

Looting remains a critical obstacle to humanitarian aid delivery in the Gaza Strip, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said during his media briefing from Headquarters in New York.

He said UNICEF was forced to cancel a mission to the Kerem Shalom border crossing to pick up supplies for the third consecutive day “due to the high risk of looting on the route that was cleared by the Israeli authorities for us to use.”

Families fleeing south

As the offensive in Gaza City intensifies, the influx of people fleeing to the south is putting even more stress on already overstretched services.

“People are arriving deep into the night, many of them walking for long hours without food, without water and without shelter,” he said.

“The coastal Al Rashid Road remains extremely congested as vehicles, donkey carts, tuk-tuks and people on foot make their way south amid the escalating attacks.”

Furthermore, despite Israel’s announcement allowing use of Salah Ad Din Road, “partners report that the road is impassable for travel by vehicles, as the route requires repairs.”

Moreover, Israeli authorities announced on Friday that the 48-hour window to use the road is now closed, meaning Al Rashid is the only route available for civilians who want to leave the north.

Needs are high

Meanwhile, the UN and partners continue their response efforts in the face of the extremely challenging circumstances and ongoing insecurity. 

On Thursday, an interagency mission led by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) carried out an assessment in multiple areas of Khan Younis where displaced people have recently arrived. 

“The assessment noted high levels of need among the displaced families, especially for shelter, for food, for water, for medical care and for every essential part of survival,” said Mr. Dujarric.

Deadly crossing attack

In related developments, he said UN Secretary-General António Guterres strongly condemned the deadly attack on Thursday at the King Hussein Bridge, the Allenby crossing between Jordan and the West Bank.

Two Israelis were killed by a Jordanian driver of an aid truck that was headed into Gaza.

The Secretary-General underscored the imperative of safeguarding the humanitarian and impartial nature of relief efforts.

He also called on all parties “to allow and facilitate rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for civilians in need, including through all available crossing and routes.” 

Images from the site of the strike show mangled metal roofing that used to provide cover for worshippers; it comes as the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces – or RSF – continue their push to take control of El Fasher, as they battle forces of the military government.

The UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Denise Brown, issued a statement saying she was gravely alarmed by the strike in the besieged capital of North Darfur state.

Call for accountability

“International humanitarian law demands the protection of mosques and the civilians worshipping in them,” she said.

“It is also a war crime to intentionally direct attacks against buildings dedicated to religion. This attack, reportedly carried out by the Rapid Support Forces, must be investigated and the perpetrators held accountable.”

UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric reiterated the longstanding call for “an immediate cessation of fire in and around El Fasher,” adding that humanitarian access access for “personnel and supplies must be facilitated in order for us to reach those in need.”

Civilian deaths mount

In a related development, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, warned that there’s been a sharp rise in civilian killings, including summary executions, along with growing ethnic violence in Sudan.

Several major offensives have been particularly deadly, including an April attack by the RSF on besieged El Fasher and elsewhere in North Darfur that left at least 527 dead, and airstrikes in March by the Sudanese Armed Forces on Tora market in North Darfur that killed at least 350 civilians, including 13 members of one family.

The situation in El Fasher is dire and worsening, said OHCHR’s Li Fung, who said reports continue of civilians being killed, abducted or subjected to sexual violence while fleeing the city.

“There are no safe exit routes out of the city, and civilians are trapped in a situation of impossible choices: stay in El Fasher, and risk bombardment, starvation, and atrocities if the RSF overrun the city; or flee, and face the risk of summary execution, sexual violence, and abduction.”

The Sudan war began in April 2023 when the peaceful transition to civilian rule broke down and fighting erupted between the former allies-turned deadly rivals.

Since then, not a single ceasefire has been acted on by either of the warring parties, noted UN partner, the International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC.

Call for diplomacy in New York

It issued an appeal to world leaders preparing to gather at the UN in New York for the UN General Assembly starting next week to agree on ways to alleviate the suffering of the Sudanese people, who are facing famine and a massive humanitarian disaster.

ICRC Regional Director for Africa Patrick Youssef urged “a coalition of States” to work on “alternatives or incentives” to warfare including the creation of safe humanitarian corridors.

In the last two years, more than 20 Sudanese Red Crescent workers have been killed, reflecting “the dire situation of humanitarians trying to cross every frontline in Sudan,” Mr. Youssef told journalists in Geneva.