Afghanistan

+++ Current events: Earthquake in northern Afghanistan +++ A severe earthquake struck northern Afghanistan in early November. The epicenter was located about 30 kilometers southeast of the city of Mazar-i Sharif. "Many houses have been destroyed and winter is just around the corner," says WHH Country Director Thomas tenBoer. WHH immediately sent teams to the destroyed villages and provided 200,000 euros in emergency aid for initial relief measures. Earthquakes are a common occurrence in Afghanistan. A major quake recently struck the east of the country on August 31, 2025, killing more than 2,200 people. +++ Afghanistan is one of the world’s poorest countries. The economy is dependent in large part on international aid. Decades of civil war and terror have destroyed large amounts of infrastructure and have had a massive impact on the country's economy. In August 2021, the Taliban overthrew the government and regained power. The number of hungry people is expected to continue to rise as a result of the ongoing fighting. 15.8 million people are threatened by hunger and 23.7 million are dependent on humanitarian aid. But other basic needs, such as medical care and education, are also not secure for the majority of the population. Rural areas in particular face great challenges to self-sustaining growth including a lack of infrastructure, an exclusively agricultural economy and a literacy rate of only 10%.