UNICEF IS PROVIDING LIFE-SAVING AID TO CHILDREN IN SYRIA AND TÜRKIYE
In the morning of February 6, a 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit south-east Türkiye and Syria, followed by a second 7.6 magnitude earthquake later in the day.
Tens of thousands of lives have been lost – including many children – with thousands more injured. These numbers are only likely to increase. Thousands of homes have been destroyed, displacing families and exposing them to the elements at a time of year when temperatures regularly drop below freezing, and snow and freezing rain are common. Schools, hospitals and other medical and educational facilities have also been damaged or destroyed by the quakes — vastly impacting children.
On February 20, two weeks after these initial two devastating earthquakes hit south-east Türkiye and Syria, children and families in affected areas experienced two additional large earthquakes – of 6.4 and 5.8 magnitude – resulting in further buildings collapsing and reports of more people killed and injured. These are the most powerful earthquakes to have hit the region in almost 100 years, and they come at the worst possible time for vulnerable children and families in the affected areas.
We urgently need your support to reach children affected by the Türkiye and Syria earthquakes with life-saving essentials. Please donate now.
HOW MUCH
DOES IT COST TO HELP A CHILD AFFECTED BY THE EARTHQUAKES?
HOW WILL MY DONATION HELP SYRIA AND TÜRKIYE?
UNICEF is working around the clock to assess the humanitarian situation and deliver life-saving aid. Our priority is to ensure children and families affected receive the support they urgently need.
In Syria, our teams are ensuring affected children and families have access to safe drinking water and sanitation services – critical in preventing illness in the early days of a crisis. We are also working to identify separated and unaccompanied children and reunite them with their families, as well as providing children with psycho-social support as many children were exposed to potentially traumatizing experiences. As schools have been damaged, UNICEF is also setting up temporary learning spaces to ensure children can get back to learning soon.
In Türkiye, we are providing child protection services such as immediate psycho-social support, as well as assessing safe drinking water and sanitation services. We are also working with the Government of Türkiye on providing warm winter clothes and continuing the relocation of children to safe spaces in the affected areas.
Your gift today will help:
- Assess the immediate and ongoing needs for children and families impacted;
- Ensure children and families have access to safe drinking water and sanitation services, which are essential in preventing illness in the early days of a crisis;
- Work to identify separated and unaccompanied children and reunite them with their families;
- Provide psychological first aid to children in the aftermath of this traumatic event;
- Supply clinics and hospitals with medical supplies and trauma kits from our closest warehouses in Lebanon and Jordan.