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5 May 2014 Following a visit today to the site of the massive landslide which killed hundreds in north-eastern Afghanistan late last week, two senior United Nations humanitarian officials highlighted the longer-term needs of people displaced by natural disasters in the country, as well as the need for long-term preventive measures.

Surveying the area by helicopter, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, Kyung-wha Kang, and UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan, Mark Bowden, carried out an aerial inspection of the Nowabad area of Abi-Barik village in the Argo district of Badakhshan, where hundreds of people were killed on Friday morning when, following heavy rainfall, a landslide struck the province.

Afghanistan is extremely susceptible to recurring natural disasters, due to its geographical location and years of environmental degradation. Over recent weeks, it has been dealing with the impact of flooding in other northern provinces, with the total number of people affected by April/May floods now standing at 71,000, with 159 confirmed dead, in addition to those killed in the landslide.

In Abi-Barak, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), around 1,000 families are thought to have been affected with some 300 houses destroyed. Some 700 families were initially displaced, having decided to evacuate their villages as a precautionary measure. These families are largely being accommodated with host families and tents have been distributed by non-governmental organizations and UN agencies.

Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, Kyung-wha Kang, and UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan, Mark Bowden visit the location of a deadly landslide in north-eastern Afghanistan. Photos: Fardin Waezi/UNAMA

The big challenges are always the logistic ones getting access to the areas it so happens that this particular landslide was much more accessible which allowed for a quick response compared to the flood victims where it's been much more difficult to get to, said Mr. Bowden.

What weve seen is that actual contingency stocks have made it possible to react very quickly to the immediate needs, but what the big challenge will be is responding adequately to the long-term needs, he added.

Ms. Kang said the tragedy highlights the need for greater attention to the larger issue of the natural disasters that are so frequent in the northern part of the country the floods, the landslides and the drought.

This is just one part of an ongoing story so that should get much [more] attention from the international community and the longer-term attention towards greater preparedness and disaster risk reduction, she said in the provincial capital, Faizabad, following the aerial visit.

I think when you fly over the area itself, and see how the earth moved and the fragility of the environment here, it highlights the long-term risk to the population in this very vulnerable province and the need for long-term preventive measures, added Mr. Bowden.

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Afghanistan: UN relief officials visit landslide-hit north-eastern province