Earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria: help us respond to the urgent needs of affected populations

From February 6th, Acted mobilised its emergency teams to provide immediate assistance in Türkiye and in Syria to respond to essential needs including in medical care, food, water, shelter and protection.

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In Syria, such a disaster exacerbated pre-existing pressing humanitarian needs due to the conflict, economic crisis, and climate-related issues.

Affected populations need medical care, but also to be provided with food, water and temporary shelter.

Damage to the infrastructure and the already vulnerable communities, is very significant. Since the beginning of the earthquakes, Acted has been mobilizing its emergency teams to carry out rapid assessments and provide immediate assistance wherever possible in Türkiye and Syria, where Acted relies on nearly ten years of expertise.

Acted’s action is carried out in liaison with the authorities and local associations present on the field.

As early as February 7th, Acted’s partners Aides Actions Internationales, Pompiers de l’Urgence Internationale and Pompiers Missions Humanitaires had started to carry out relief operations for the populations still under the rubble.

Distributions have been taking place in the affected areas since February 13th.

Acted is mobilised in Türkiye in the regions of Hatay, Adiyaman and Kahramanmaraş, and act to support people through:

• the distribution of food kits
• the distribution of hygiene kits
• the distribution of emergency shelter kits and tents
• the distribution of baby kits
• the installation of water tanks and the water supply, hygiene and sanitation: ACTED has notably installed four water tanks in Hatay benefiting 25,000 people
• multi-purpose cash assistance to help the affected population meet their basic needs

Since the disaster occured, Acted and its partners in Türkiye provided shelter, distributed food supplies to 8,500 families, more than 6,000 with hygiene kits, and brought about almost 6,000 cubic meters of clean water in needful sites, an essential service to contain the spread of waterborne diseases.

Acted has mobilised its teams in Syria to provide a multi-sectoral assistance including:

• the distribution of shelter kits and non-food items
• the distribution of food kits, including ready-to-eat meals
• the provision of water, hygiene and sanitation
• the distribution of vouchers and multi-purpose cash assistance to meet people’s basic needs by encouraging self-reliance and flexibility
• the implementation of cash-for-work schemes, which can focus on debris removal or waste collection

In Syria, Acted could provide post-earthquake aid to almost 100,000 persons since February 6th. Thanks to our donors and partners, our teams continued bringing water supplies through water trucking and worked on rehabilitating hygiene installations and on waste management.

ACTED’s expertise and local knowledge will allow for a rapid response and support to earthquake-affected populations. Acted also set up activities related to:

• Provide food assistance through cash transfers or vouchers.
• Participate in the construction and rehabilitation of essential infrastructure for communities such as water, sanitation and hygiene buildings and schools.
• Support local actors in the emergency response.