UN News Today 03 November 2025 |

Afghanistan: UN on the ground after new deadly quake hits

Aid teams in Afghanistan breathed a sigh of relief on Monday after initial assessments of the latest earthquake to hit the country indicated less death and destruction than they’d feared.

At least 20 people died and hundreds were injured by the 6.3 magnitude tremor in northern Afghanistan near the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, according to reports.

Only two months ago, a massive quake devastated communities in the mountainous east of the country and uprooted hundreds of thousands of people.

With more on the latest emergency in northern Afghanistan, here’s the UN’s acting Humanitarian Coordinator, Richard Trenchard:

“We saw some rocks on roads, but no significant rock falls. Similarly, the roads were not packed there were no signs of mass displacement, et cetera. These are very, very Initial findings, it was just an aerial overfly. We were down at about between four and 500 metres over the most affected communities, but no signs of widespread devastation, no signs of massive population displacement. Thank goodness.”

Afghanistan is prone to earthquakes because it sits on numerous tectonic fault lines that often cause massively damaging shallow tremors.

To improve the resilience of vulnerable communities to these repeated shocks, specialized UN agency UN Habitat said trained Afghan masons using local construction techniques, are one important way to help save lives.

Gaza: Dozens of trained midwives deploy in bid to save lives and tackle mental trauma of war

To Gaza where no less than 90 midwives have been deployed to provide life-saving support across the war-shattered enclave.

The UN reproductive health agency – UNFPA – welcomed the news.

It’s providing support, including helping women and girls cope with trauma resulting from the devastating war between Hamas fighters and Israel.

UNFPA has warned repeatedly that pregnant women in Gaza have had to go without basic care because of attacks on health facilities.

Only around 15 health centres in the enclave still provide the care that new mothers and their babies require, while well over a dozen women give birth outside a health facility, without a skilled attendant, UNFPA has said.

In its latest update from Gaza, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said that access to food improved in early October, especially in southern governorates.

One in two households surveyed reported better food access because of increasing commercial and aid deliveries.

OCHA warned however that no food aid convoy has reached the north via any direct crossings since 12 September.

Despite ongoing dire conditions in northern Gaza, the UN agency said that around 90 per cent of the estimated 29,000 people who moved in Gaza Strip at the weekend were travelling from the south to the north.

WHO spotlights self-sufficiency as global funding plunges for healthcare

The UN World Health Organization (WHO) issued new guidance on Monday to help poorer nations cope with severe global funding cuts for essential medical services worldwide.

According to the UN health agency, healthcare aid from abroad is projected to see a decline of between 30 and 40 per cent this year, compared with 2023.

This has already resulted in reductions of up to 70 per cent in key health services in some of the 108 low and middle-income countries that feature in a new WHO report.

More than 50 of these nations also reported job losses among health and care workers, the UN agency noted, a situation made worse by years of financial strain driven by inflation, sovereign debt repayments and a heavy reliance on outside support.

At risk are critical services such as maternal care, vaccination and disease surveillance in many low and middle-income countries, WHO has warned.

Daniel Johnson, UN News