UN agencies provide aid to flood victims in eastern Afghanistan

United Nations humanitarian agencies are providing aid to residents of eastern Afghanistan, where floods this week have killed at least one person and caused widespread damage to homes and infrastructure.

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Food Programme (WFP) have joined forces with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and local authorities to distribute the relief items among the towns and villages, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported today.

Tents, bed nets, blankets, jerry cans and kitchen equipment are among the items that aid agencies are providing, while WFP has pledged to deliver enough food for the next three months for those affected by the floods.

At least four provinces – Nangarhar, Laghman, Kunar and Nuristan – have been affected by the floods, but Nangarhar is the worst affected and the relief effort is concentrated in the province’s capital of Jalalabad.

Kenneth Baato Rogers, the head of the regional office for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said the office is helping with the monitoring of relief efforts to ensure that all major needs are being met.