The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News | OCHA , UNITED NATIONS
Bi-Weekly Press Briefing: Earthquake Response Update Syria And Türkiye OCHA - ICRC - IFRC
Aid convoys will continue cross-border into Syria ‘for as long as needs are there’: UN aid teams
UN aid trucks filled with vital relief support continue to cross the border from southern Türkiye into northwest Syria to help communities enduring terrible trauma caused by last week’s earthquake disaster – “and (they) will continue every day for as long as the needs are there”, UN aid teams said on Friday.
“Since 9 February and up to last night we have a total of 143 trucks going through the Bab al-Hawa and Bab al-Salam border crossings,” said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). “The movements continue today, they continue over the weekend and will continue every day for as long as the needs are there.”
According to the OCHA spokesperson, there are no obstacles to cross-border aid.
“The information that I have is that all the roads through all the crossing points are passable and you can drive there, so that’s a good thing,” he said. “I was myself at Bab al-Hawa a couple of - a few days ago - and the trucks were indeed rolling across.”
Amid massive devastation in both Türkiye and Syria after the double quake strike on 6 February, relief workers have stressed that the full extent of disaster is still unfolding.
UN-led flash appeals for both countries have been issued this week – for Türkiye, a $1 billion request for three months to help 5.2 million people, and for nearly five million people in Syrian, a $397 million humanitarian appeal – jumpstarted by a $50 million funding injection from the the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund.
At least 8.8 million people in Syria are known to have been affected by the earthquake, with the majority anticipated to need some form of humanitarian assistance, as relief teams have seen first-hand in Aleppo.
“I was quite overwhelmed by not only the magnitude of the destruction but the loss that was inflicted on families, you know, during only 60 seconds,” said Fabrizio Carboni, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Regional Director for the Near and Middle East.
“For the first time I saw that there was not only a crack, and cracks in the buildings, but for the first time I really saw that our colleagues, the people you talked to in Syria, they were really wounded and something is broken.”
Speaking to journalists in Geneva, the ICRC official also issued a strong appeal for crossline aid deliveries from Damascus to be allowed through: “We tried to get into Idlib through crossline and so far we’ve been blocked, unfortunately. So, I don’t have first-hand information on the roads and access but yeah, we’re ready to get in but we are so far blocked to do crossline, hoping that this could change soon.”
Needs remain massive but the international response is gaining momentum, both in Türkiye and Syria, confirmed Caroline Holt, global director for operations at The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC): “In Türkiye, we’re very much supporting with the Turkish Red Crescent on the ground to support with shelter needs, with food, with wash, with health and also with cash.
“In Syria, we are working of course through and with our partner the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to support people with basic needs and household items, including health, psychosocial support and of course WASH, because of course, access to clean and safe water as we know in these situations is absolutely critical to avoid that second potential disaster, that second health disaster unfolding.”
ends
STORY: Earthquake Relief Update Syria, Türkiye: OCHA, ICRC, IFRC
TRT: 2’50”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
RELEASED: 17 February 2023
SHOTLIST
- Exterior wide, UN flag alley, UN Geneva.
- Wide of speakers and journalists in press room, UN backdrop to rear.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Jens Laerke, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “Since 9 February and up to last night we have a total of 143 trucks going through the Bab al-Hawa and Bab al-Salam border crossings; the movements continue today, they continue over the weekend and will continue every day for as long as the needs are there.”
- Medium, journalists in profile working on laptops.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Jens Laerke, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “The information that I have is that all the roads through all the crossing points are passable and you can drive there, so that’s a good thing. I was myself at Bab al-Hawa a couple of - a few days ago - and the trucks were indeed rolling across.”
- Medium, journalists writing on laptops in front of TV screen showing Zoom participants.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Fabrizio Carboni (Zoom from Geneva), ICRC Regional Director for the Near and Middle East: “I was quite overwhelmed by not only the magnitude of the destruction but the loss that was inflicted on families during, you know, only 60 seconds.”
- Close: journalist’s head partially shown, journalists to rear.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Fabrizio Carboni (Zoom from Geneva), ICRC Regional Director for the Near and Middle East: “We tried to get into Idlib through crossline and so far we’ve been blocked, unfortunately. So, I don’t have first-hand information on the roads and access but yeah, we’re ready to get in but we are so far blocked to do crossline, hoping that this could change soon.”
- Medium, journalists in profile.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Fabrizio Carboni (Zoom from Geneva), ICRC Regional Director for the Near and Middle East: “For the first time I saw that there was not only a crack, and cracks in the buildings, but for the first time I really saw that our colleagues, the people we talked to in Syria, they were really wounded and something is broken.”
- Medium, journalists in profile.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Caroline Holt (B-128), IFRC global director for operations: “In Türkiye, we’re very much supporting with the Turkish Red Crescent on the ground to support with shelter needs, with food, with wash, with health and also with cash.”
- Close, hands typing on laptop.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Caroline Holt (B-128), IFRC global director for operations: “In Syria, we are working of course through and with our partner the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to support people with basic needs and houseold items, including health, psychosocial support and of course WASH, because of course, access to clean and safe water as we know in these situations is absolutely critical to avoid that second potential disaster, that second health disaster unfolding.”
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk addressed the Human Rights Council during a meeting on the Israeli strike on negotiators in Qatar on Tuesday. “Israel’s strike on negotiators in Doha on 9 September was a shocking breach of international law, an assault on regional peace and stability, and a blow against the integrity of mediation and negotiating processes around the world,” he said.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
Gaza: Thirsty and starving, war-battered families face ‘inhumane’ evacuation
As bombs continue to fall on Gaza City as part of the intensifying Israeli military operation, families with starving children are being pushed southwards from one “hellscape” to another, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
New UN Human Rights report finds 10 years of increased suffering repression and fear
The UN Human Rights Office on Friday published a report on the human rights situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) since 2014.
1
1
2
Edited News | UNICEF , UNHCR
The ongoing humanitarian response to the devastating Afghanistan earthquake disaster continued on Friday, although essential services have been cut for operational reasons following reinforced Taliban restrictions on women working with the UN, the global body said.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
Un nouveau rapport du Haut-Commissariat des Nations Unies aux droits de l'homme sur la République démocratique du Congo évoque le spectre de crimes de guerre et de crimes contre l'humanité dans le Nord et le Sud-Kivu.,
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | HRC
A high-level independent rights probe into the Sudan crisis on Tuesday condemned the many grave crimes committed against civilians by all parties to the war, citing disturbing evidence indicating that they had been “deliberately targeted, displaced and starved”.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Ukraine: ‘Relentless’ attacks rattle health system as winter approaches: WHO
Ambulances attacked, chronically ill patients lacking care and no peace in sight: for millions of Ukrainians, the run-up to another winter of war is just the latest life-or-death challenge they face, the UN health agency (WHO) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday delivered his report on Sri Lanka to the 60th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday delivered his global update to the 60th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
A UN report on the Democratic Republic of Congo raises specter of war crimes and crimes against humanity in North and South Kivu, according to UN Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani.
1
1
1
Edited News | WMO
As billions of people continue to breathe polluted air that causes more than 4.5 million premature deaths every year, UN climate experts on Friday highlighted how damaging microscopic smoke particles from wildfires play their part, travelling half-way across the world.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence made the following comment on the on-going presidential election process in Cameroon at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.