Time is critical.
One month on from the two catastrophic earthquakes that struck southern Türkiye and Syria, more than 850,000 children remain displaced after being forced from their damaged or destroyed homes.
The number of children killed and injured during the quakes and their aftermath has not yet been confirmed but is likely to be in the many thousands. The combined death toll from the earthquakes and aftershocks has reached more than 50,000 people with thousands of others injured and massive destruction to buildings and other essential infrastructure.
In Türkiye, over 1.9 million people are staying in temporary accommodation shelters with limited access to basic services such as water, sanitation, and medical services in the affected areas. 2.5 million children in the country require urgent humanitarian assistance.
In Syria, more than 500,000 people are believed to have been forced from their homes by the earthquakes. Many families’ homes have been destroyed and many children are afraid to return to damaged homes as aftershocks continue. Even before the earthquakes, Syria had the largest number of internally displaced people in the world, with 6.8 million people displaced – including nearly three million children. Across Syria, more than 3.7 million children have been affected by the quakes.
We urgently need your support to respond to the needs of children affected by this earthquake. Please make an urgent donation.
“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." - James Elder, UNICEF Spokesperson
We can’t afford to wait, and we urgently need your support to reach children. Please make an urgent donation today.
UNICEF continues to work closely with both the Turkish and Syrian governments to support relief operations in the region with humanitarian assistance. We have already channeled desperately needed supplies, and are ensuring evacuation to safe spaces for children living in the affected areas.
Your donation can make a huge difference in providing immediate support like hygiene kits, blankets, and winter clothes to children and families in need. Please help now!
Help UNICEF reach more children in need
Thousands of homes are likely to 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. Heavy snowstorms have also recently hit parts of the region, with further sub-zero temperatures forecasted.
- UNICEF has reached almost half a million people with lifesaving water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services and supplies, including through water trucking, solid waste management, desludging of septic tanks as well as the provision of family hygiene kits and other lifesaving supplies across Syria.
- Over 294,000 people, including those taking refuge in shelters, have been reached with essential supplies and medical consultations through UNICEF-supported health centres and mobile health teams.
- More than 130,000 under five-year-old children have been supported with nutrition services across the earthquake-affected areas.
- UNICEF has also reached more than 100,000 children and caregivers with psychological support, including psychological first aid, recreational activities, mental health psychosocial support and parenting sessions.
- In Türkiye, UNICEF has distributed winter clothes, electrical heaters and blankets to nearly 277,000 people, including over 163,000 children.
- 258,000 people in Türkiye, including 148,000 children received hygiene supplies.
- UNICEF has been setting up child-friendly spaces near temporary accommodation centres and has so far provided psychosocial first aid and recreational activities to over 5,000 children.