Solidarity with Turkey and Syria: Fondation de France’s priorities after 18 months of action

On February 6, 2023 two earthquakes of exceptional magnitude the southern Turkey and northern Syria leaving 500,00 dead and hundreds of thousands more wounded and homeless. Eighteen months later, Fondation de France is adjusting its strategy to meet constantly changing needs and set priorities for the coming months. It has already spent almost 8 million euros in rolling out 76 projects in the areas devastated.

In southern Turkey, the earthquake affected 10 provinces, home to 15 million people including 1.7 million Syrian refugees who benefit from temporary protection. Despite massive humanitarian response provided by the authorities and strong citizen mobilization, supporting civil society organizations remains a huge challenge, particularly for those who work on advocacy and help for minorities.

More than four million of people live in the northwest of Syria, a country already afflicted by twelve years of war. A range of authorities (the Damas government, Turkish forces, rebel forces, etc.) control different quake zones. Access to humanitarian services remains the key challenge for civil populations who find themselves facing a highly complex security context, fragmented territories and governance issues. Aid is primarily provided by local people and organizations with a thorough understanding of the field.

In the face of these various challenges, Fondation de France’s work consists in the following four strategic objectives: meeting the needs of victims; targeting marginalized populations where access to essential services is lacking, including fundamental rights; promoting projects with positive, sustainable and inclusive impact; and relying on local capacity and national know-how.

Help for the most vulnerable in Turkey

In Turkey, Fondation de France is focusing its support for particularly vulnerable populations who are discriminated against with no access to aid: people with a disability, women, children, the elderly, refugees, LGBTQI+ people, etc. Human right violations and illegal acts after the earthquakes have intensified the suffering of these populations.

According to the latest Amnesty International report, 70% of the 100,000 affected by the earthquake remain disabled. In the Hatay region, NGO KAMER spots women and children with a disability so that their needs can be met. It also provides them with appropriate care and helps them become independent, especially by helping them face violence and providing them with psychological support.

 NGO KAMER provides psychological support for children affected by the quake.

Since the earthquake, refugees – and children in particular – are even more vulnerable: 40% of school-age Syrian children don’t attend school and access to kindergarten remains very limited. In the province of Adıyaman in southern Turkey, NGO Maya Vafki supports refugee children and those who care for them, providing art-based psychological and social support to create an environment conducive to well-being and lasting recovery.

 NGO Maya Vafki offers psychological and social support activities for refugee children.

In the neighborhood of Samandag in the Hatay province, which experienced the most devastation in the quake, NGO KOVED launched the “Samandag Women’s Life Center”. This is a place where solidarity flourishes, women and children become more independent and find help to rebuild their lives. Among many other services, the center offers psychological and social help, one-on-one meetings, advice, awareness raising and so on, to more than a thousand people.

 The “Samandag Women’s Life Center”, created by NGO KOVED, helps women rebuild their lives.

To  meet the essential needs of marginalized earthquake victims, in particular LGBTQI+ people, NGO World Human Relief is implementing the “Post-earthquake Therapy and Basic Needs Support Project”: more than 1,000 hygiene kits were distributed and  psychological and social support provided to 2,800 people.

Providing essential aid in Syria

In the aftermath of the quake in north-western Syria, war and bombardment, has displaced thousands of civilians and suffering is even more acute for those who live in camps close to the Turkish border. In the face of deteriorating living conditions, with severe shortages of food, drinking water, electricity and medical care, Fondation de France is concentrating its support on priorities for those who need help.  

Because of food shortages in the devastated zone, it supports a program for the sovereignty of food and vulnerable farming communities for 350 people. The objective is twofold: promoting crop growing in home gardens by training and raising awareness of farming techniques and providing vegetable seeds, agricultural machinery and enough fertilizer for the year’s crops.

In the province of Idleb, almost a third of the population is believed to have a disability acquired by the earthquake or war. NGO Handicap International and its local partners are working towards improving their physical and mental health and preventing any complications or long-term disabilities. Cross-cutting rehabilitation such as physical therapy, mental health and psychological and social support are prescribed and medical equipment provided.

Faced with the requirement of increasing medical services, especially kidney care, nonprofit Bahar has developed a hemodialysis unit in the town of Afrin. This initiative aims to guarantee the quality of care and offers psychological and social support for patients, to help them confront physical and emotional challenges associated with kidney disease and treatment.

 In Afrin, nonprofit Bahar has developed a renal hemodialysis unit.

Following the collapse of the main water reservoir in Sawran, a town north of the Aleppo governorate, NGO Support Stabilization Unit distributes water to 800 families affected by the earthquake. It also helps the local council meet the costs of operating the town’s wells, decreasing the cost of water-cisterns, which have risen significantly, and preventing propagation of diseases such as cholera.

In the town of Sawran, NGO Support Stabilization Unit distributes water to 800 families affected by the earthquake.

TO FIND OUT MORE

→ Turkey-Syria: a year of stepping up where it mattered most
→ Turkey-Syria: ten months of action where it really matters
→ Interview with Christine Robichon: "Solidarity with Turkey and Syria" Committee President
→ Earthquakes in Turkey and Syria: Fondation de France is mobilizing and appealing for donations