The first quake came in the early hours of Feb. 6. Without warning, buildings swayed and toppled as parents in Turkey and Syria pulled sleeping children from their beds and rushed out into the cold, wet winter night.
Since then, three more major earthquakes have hit the region, along with over 11,000 aftershocks. More than 850,000 children remain displaced, their homes damaged or destroyed. The combined death toll has surpassed 50,000, with thousands more injured.
As children cope with shock, fear and uncertainty, their parents are struggling to keep them safe and warm in temporary shelters. Some families are afraid to return to their homes, now structurally unsound and in danger of collapse. Others no longer have a home to go to.
The numbers are staggering. In Turkey alone, over 1.9 million people are staying in shelters with limited access to basic services such as water, sanitation and medical services. An estimated 2.5 million children in Turkey require urgent humanitarian assistance.
UNICEF has distributed winter clothes, electric heaters and blankets to nearly 277,000 people in Turkey, including over 163,000 children. Working closely with the Ministry of Health, UNICEF is procuring life saving vaccines and cold chain storage equipment. At least 258,000 people, including 148,000 children, have received hygiene supplies.
UNICEF is working around the clock to meet their most pressing needs.
UNICEF is on the ground responding to the needs of thousands of families and children impacted by the devastating earthquakes in Syria and Turkey. With our support, UNICEF can reach more children in need.
The earthquakes have crippled essential infrastructure, including schools and water systems, disrupting children’s educations and compromising access to safe water and sanitation.
UNICEF has reached almost half a million people in Syria with water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services and supplies, including hygiene kits, water trucking, solid waste management and desludging of septic tanks. Over 294,000 people, including those taking refuge in shelters, have been reached with essential supplies and medical consultations through UNICEF-supported health centers and mobile health teams.
More than 130,000 children under 5 have received nutrition services, and over 100,000 children and caregivers have been reached with psychological support, including psychological first aid, recreational activities, mental health care and parenting sessions.
When emergencies tear children’s lives apart, reestablishing a school routine can make a world of difference to their emotional well-being. UNICEF is delivering education supplies and recreational kits for distribution to schools and shelters to give children the chance to continue learning.
“These children need some hope for the future and the only thing that will bring that is peace and a chance to rebuild their lives,” said UNICEF spokesperson Joe English. “Education is key. If you can get kids back into the classroom and back into learning, that gives them this spark that allows them to imagine a future where they are not living in a tent and not being forced from their homes again and again.”
To give children a safe place to play, UNICEF is opening Child-Friendly Spaces near temporary shelters. To date, UNICEF has provided recreational activities and psychosocial first aid for more than 193,000 people in Turkey.
With support from UNICEF, Turkey’s Ministry of Education has set up 87 tents, which are being used as temporary learning centers. Catch-up classes are running in two shifts benefiting nearly 3,600 children every day. UNICEF continues to identify unaccompanied and separated children and refer them for further support.
The members of the Greater Princeton Branch of AYLUS (GPA) were deeply saddened by the loss of lives and destruction caused by the earthquakes that hit Türkiye on February 6th, 2023, and wished a speedy recovery to the wounded.
GPA members acted promptly by sending urgently needed 500+ bottles of over-the-counter medications for flu, cold, and painkillers to the Turkish General Consulate in New York City.
Further, GPA is hosting a Benefit Music Performance and donating to help the Turkish earthquake survivors. GPA will combine music performance videos of students, AYLUS members or not, then share the edited video with Turkish musicians.
And, GPA is making donations to UNICEF!
GPA received benefit music performances from: Tyler Fu (3/11, 2 hrs), Chenhao Luo (3/11, 6 hrs), Priscilla Chang (3/11, 2 hrs), Sharon Chang (3/11, 2 hrs), and more.
52 Chenhao Luo-Piano-Air
62 Sharon Chang-Clarinet-I Need Thee Every Hour, I’ll Fly Away
63 Priscilla Chang-Oboe-In Christ Alone, King of My Heart
