The United Nations on Thursday launched a $1 billion appeal to help 5.2 million survivors of the most devastating earthquake in Turkey’s modern history, two days after it launched a $397 million appeal to help nearly 5 million Syrians to cross the border into the rebel-controlled northwest.
United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric was peppered with questions about why Turkey’s appeal is only for 5.2 million people when according to the United Nations and the government more than 15 million people have been affected. He was also asked why the appeal for Turkey is 2.5 times bigger than for Syria to help almost the same number of people.
He said the Turkish appeal “was designed in close cooperation with the government of Turkey, which is leading the relief efforts.”
UN CALLS FOR $397 MILLION IN HUMANITARIAN AID FOR SYRIAN EARTHQUAKE SURVIVORS
“This is the number they’ve found to focus on people who need humanitarian aid the most, most quickly, and where the United Nations can be most effective,” Dujarric said. He said Turkey has “a very efficient humanitarian and research system.”
As for the disparity in the amount of appeals, he said, part of the reason is that “there is already a well-established humanitarian community that has been working in Syria,” and before the earthquake there was a 4.8 billion dollars for Syria for 2023.
“So there is already a humanitarian fund for Syria, which didn’t exist for Turkey,” he said.
Both appeals concern emergency funds for the next three months and will be followed by new appeals for long-term aid.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced the $1 billion appeal for Turkey saying the money will allow aid groups to rapidly scale up support for government-led relief efforts, including providing food, protection, education, water and shelter for survivors of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake on 6 February that devastated southern Turkey and northwestern Syria.
“The needs are enormous, people are suffering and there is no time to waste,” Guterres said. “I urge the international community to step up and fully fund this critical effort in response to one of the greatest natural disasters of our time.”
He said that “Turkey hosts the largest number of refugees in the world and has shown tremendous generosity towards its Syrian neighbors for years,” so it is time for the world to support the Turkish people.
The United Nations has launched an appeal for $1 billion in funding for earthquake survivors in Turkey. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
More than 1.74 million refugees live in Turkey’s 11 earthquake-hit provinces, according to the United Nations refugee agency.
UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths, who visited both earthquake-ravaged countries last week, said: “The Turkish people have experienced unspeakable anguish.”
The earthquake struck in midwinter, leaving hundreds of thousands of people, including young children and the elderly, without access to shelter, food, water, heat and medical care in freezing temperatures. Griffiths’ office said some 47,000 buildings were destroyed or damaged.
“We need to be with them in their darkest hour and ensure they get the support they need,” Griffiths said.
The United Nations has been criticized for its slow response to bringing aid and heavy equipment into rebel-controlled northwestern Syria since the earthquake struck 10 days ago.
On Monday, following a visit to Damascus by Griffiths, Guterres announced that Syrian leader Bashar Assad had agreed to open two additional crossings from northwest Turkey – at Bab Al-Salam and Al Raée – for an initial three-year period. months.
The United Nations had only been allowed to deliver aid in northwestern Idlib through a single crossing at Bab Al-Hawa, at the insistence of Syrian ally Russia.
Dujarric, the UN spokesman, said 22 trucks with food and other aid passed through Bab Al-Hawa on Monday and two trucks with tents passed through Bab Al-Salam on Thursday. No convoys had yet entered the northwest from Al Raée.
“As of February 14, according to the latest information we have received, 8,900 buildings have been completely or partially destroyed in northwestern Syria, leaving 11,000 people homeless,” Dujarric said.
Shelter is the top immediate need in Syria, with food, cash assistance and supplies to cope with the winter weather also priorities, he said.
SYRIA EARTHQUAKE DEATH TOTAL PROBABLY INCREASED, UN OFFICIAL SAYS
Global humanitarian needs have already increased by 25% this year compared to last year before the earthquake, and Dujarric said the United Nations was concerned about the growing number of people needing help.
“Our humanitarian system is stretched to the limit,” he said.
Many people in need of help are in areas affected by conflict and the impact of climate change, Dujarric said.
For the United Nations, he said, it is frustrating that “so many of these issues can be addressed in advance” but face “the consequences of ignoring climate change, of not committing ourselves sufficiently to peace, reconciliation, social cohesion. .. lands at the gates of the United Nations”.
Dujarric said the United Nations is working as fast as possible within international law and the UN Charter, “which sometimes forces the United Nations, as opposed to other relief agencies, to consider and respect the political context”.
“And if I were to get help, I would feel like nothing is coming fast enough,” he said.
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“That said, we hope that member states find the necessary solidarity and generosity also from the public and private sectors” to help earthquake survivors and millions of others in need, Dujarric said.
