The African Development Bank (AfDB) has expressed its readiness to support the protection of health facilities and the provision of clean drinking water for victims of the earthquake in Morocco.

Development Diaries reports that an earthquake hit the country on 08 September, leaving over 2,000 people dead with thousands more injured.

It is understood that armed forces and international aid teams have continued to dig through the rubble to reach remote mountain areas as the search for survivors continues.

‘Given the remoteness of the epicentre of the earthquake, the African Development Bank is prioritising support for the protection of health facilities and the provision of clean drinking water, to prevent further hardship’, the AfDB President, Akinwumi Adesina, said.

According to the United Nations estimates, 300,000 people in the area have been affected; as many of them spent their third straight night sleeping outside.

The tragedy has left in its wake enormous destruction of homes, offices, roads, hospitals, and schools.

While the African Union Champion for Disaster Risk Management, Filipe Nyusi, called on other African states and humanitarian organisations to support, the continental body needs to do more.

Development Diaries urges humanitarian actors, continental and regional bodies to follow in the path of the AfDB and contribute resources and expertise to help rebuild infrastructure in the affected communities.

Photo source: World Bank