UN issues $1 billion aid for Turkiye earthquake victims
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Alaina
- . February 17, 2023
- . Update: February 18, 2023 12:42 am
The terrible earthquake that hit Turkiye on Thursday claimed hundreds of lives and left millions of others in desperate need of aid, leading the UN to launch aid for $1 billion to help the victims.
According to a statement by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, 5.2 million people would get humanitarian aid from the funds for a period of three months.
Included in the areas of food security, protection, education, water, and shelter, the money would “enable relief organisations to rapidly scale up crucial support,” he continued.
There is no time to waste because of the immense demands and suffering of the population, Guterres pleaded.
“I ask the world community to step up and fully fund this important work,” he said in response to one of the biggest natural disasters in recent memory.
More than 35,000 people have died in southeast Turkey as a result of the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that occurred on February 6. Many thousand more people have died in Syria, which is just across the border. According to Ankara, the disaster has had a direct impact on more than nine million people in Turkiye.
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These include many Syrian refugees. According to UN statistics, 1.74 million Syrians are residing in the 11 regions of Turkiye that were affected by the earthquake under temporary refugee protection status.
In its statement, OCHA noted that hundreds of thousands of people—including young children and the elderly—suffer in subfreezing conditions without access to heating, food, water, or shelter.
Over 47,000 buildings in Turkiye have been demolished or damaged, the report continued, and thousands of residents have sought safety in makeshift shelters.
According to OCHA, the UN is supplying the impacted districts with hot meals, food, tents, warm winter apparel, blankets, mattresses, cooking sets, and medical equipment.
The international organisation launched a $397 million appeal on Tuesday to aid earthquake victims in Syria. Earlier, the UN allocated $50 million from its core emergency response fund to aid in relief efforts.
With regard to its part, in the “heart-breaking” destruction in Turkey and Syria, the world’s largest steel producer ArcelorMittal stated on Thursday that it has donated $5 million to aid earthquake victims through the Disasters Emergency Committee and Doctors Without Borders.
