Save the Children: No Child Should Take Their First Breath in a Tent
Kabul, September 24 – Save the Children has raised alarm over the plight of newborns, pregnant women, and mothers in earthquake-hit areas of eastern Afghanistan, warning that many are being forced to give birth in tents under dangerous and unsanitary conditions.
According to the organization’s latest report, released today on its website, thousands of children are being born in tents because landslides caused by the earthquake have blocked roads, making it unsafe for pregnant women to reach hospitals. The report estimates that around 11,000 women in affected areas are currently pregnant and may be forced to deliver in makeshift shelters in the coming months. With winter approaching and temperatures set to plunge below freezing, the risks to newborns are expected to increase dramatically.
The report states that about nine in ten families in the quake-affected districts are living in tents after their homes were destroyed. Nearly 39,000 children are currently enduring life under the open sky.
Save the Children highlighted the case of Pari, a pregnant woman in her final days of pregnancy when the 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck on August 31, displacing her from her home. Blocked roads forced her to walk for six hours to reach Save the Children’s mobile health clinic. After 16 years, she had finally become pregnant, but just five days after the quake, she gave birth to her child in a tent—with no clothes to wrap the baby in.
The organization warned that in some mountainous villages, relief may not reach at all once winter snow sets in. Many of these areas are only accessible by foot or narrow single-vehicle roads, further complicating aid delivery.
Save the Children said it is providing health care, water and sanitation services, family and child hygiene kits, multipurpose cash assistance, and child protection centers in the affected eastern provinces.
Meanwhile, UN estimates suggest that nearly half a million people have been affected by the earthquake, with more than 8,000 homes destroyed or damaged.
“No child should take their first breath in a tent. No child should grow up without shoes, warm clothes, or heat. Now is the time for urgent action to protect children and families before the harsh winter sets in,” said Samira Sayed Rahman, Director of Advocacy and Communications for Save the Children in Afghanistan.
Save the Children has been working in Afghanistan since 1976 and currently operates programs in 20 provinces covering health, nutrition, education, child protection, shelter, water and sanitation, and livelihoods support.
