Earthquake Turkey-Syria 2023: How to help the victims

Foreign nations and NGOs have pledged aid and have begun mobilizing relief supplies and rescue teams to help authorities in Turkey and Syria deal with the thousands of people injured and displaced by Monday’s massive earthquakes.

The United Nations refugee and children’s organizations and its World Food Program were among the organizations that rushed to respond to the disaster.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said it could launch a new earthquake appeal but noted it was still at an early stage in determining what and how much aid was needed in the earthquake zone. The agency has long submitted appeals to support its work with refugees in Turkey and Syria, and these appeals remain severely underfunded.

You can click here to support the work of UNHCR.

UNHCR has already sought $348 million to help refugees in Turkey alone, but says international donors have only pledged 11% of that sum so far. In Syria, the agency’s appeal totals US$465 million and only 7% of these funds have been pledged.

The United Nations World Food Program has also been working for years to help refugees and others displaced by conflict in the earthquake zone, and it said resources were already being mobilized for survivors of the Syrian earthquake. You can support WFP’s work by clicking here.

The UN children’s fund UNICEF is also on site in Turkey and Syria with employees to help people after the earthquakes. Here you can support the work of the agency.

The Syrian American Medical Society, a US-based charity, said it also helps earthquake victims on the ground in war-torn Syria.

“Hospitals are overwhelmed with patients filling the corridors,” says the organization in a call for donations. “There is an immediate need for trauma care and comprehensive emergency response to save lives and treat the injured.”

“At our operational facilities, we received earthquake victims as they entered our hospitals, while working to ensure the welfare of our 1,700+ employees in Syria and 90 at the epicenter near Gaziantep, Turkey,” SAMS said. president dr Amjad Rass.

With winter conditions making rescue and relief efforts all the more difficult and urgent across the earthquake zone, aid agencies stressed the importance of a unified international response.