Bi-Weekly Press Briefing: Update Earthquakes Syria And Türkiye WFP - UNHCR - WHO

As another United Nations aid convoy crossed Friday into war-torn Syria’s opposition held northwest from Türkiye to bring urgently needed relief items to people severely suffering from a 7,8 magnitude earthquake on early Monday which has killed some 22,000 people in Türkiye and Syria, UN humanitarian agencies urgently call for the opening of new border crossings between Türkiye and Syria.

“Northwest Syria where 90 % of the population depends on humanitarian assistance is a big concern. We have reached the people there, but we need to replenish our stocks”, said Corinna Fleischer, Regional Director in the Middle East, Northern Africa and Eastern Europe of the World Food Programme (WFP) when talking to journalists at the United Nations in Geneva. “We are running out of stocks, and we need access to bring new stocks in. The border crossing is open now, but we need to get new border crossings opened because the roads are damaged, and we need to be able to come from different sites into northwest Syria”.

The aid delivery mechanism from Turkey into opposition-held areas of the Syrian Arab Republic through the Bab al-Hawa crossing is the only way UN assistance can reach civilians without passing through areas controlled by Syrian government forces.

“Right now, Bab al-Hawa is open, and we are calling for Bab al-Salameh to be reopened”, said Ms. Fleischer. “That was part of the Security Council Resolution crossing points that used to be open and has been closed. This one, we are calling on all parties to reopen it and I think discussions are ongoing”.

In the first four days since deadly earthquakes struck the region forcing tens of thousands into the freezing outside temperatures, WFP has delivered urgently needed food assistance to 150,000 people in Syria and Türkiye.

In Northwest Syria, around 23, 850 affected people received through WFP partners ready-to-eat food rations that last for one week.

In Türkiye, WFP is providing a total of 73, 000 refugees and peopled displaced by the earthquake with family food baskets.

“Today we will start soup kitchens through the municipalities who will cook for the Turkish population, and we are planning 200,000 soup kitchens in the municipalities”, said Ms. Fleischer.

 Today’s convoy to northwestern Syria consisted of 14 trucks containing non-food items such as humanitarian kits, solar lamps, blankets, and other assistance, told Paul Dillon, spokesperson of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The aid “will be sufficient for about 1,100 families in the quake-hit areas in Idlib” province in the country’s northwest.

 The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has been distributing since day one relief items to all those impacted by the quake, but mainly also to the most vulnerable such as the elderly, people with disabilities and children.

“We are focusing very much as UNHCR on shelter and relief items, whether that means ensuring that collective centers that displaced persons have gone to are sort of adequate in terms of facilities, tents, plastic sheeting, and of course, I mentioned earlier, the thermal blankets, the sleeping mats, winter clothing and so on”, said Sivanka Dhanapala, UNCHR Representative in Syria.

 “The first couple of weeks we are looking at life-saving activity, adaptation of the collective centres that I was talking about earlier, tents and the non-food items”, he said, adding that “then we look of course, when we look at 8,12 weeks, we look at supporting livelihoods and basic services in affected areas whether that means life sustaining shelter support, provision/installation of emergency shelter kits and this kind of thing really trying to undertake minor repairs in the damaged housing”.

Emphasizing the race against time to save lives and to ensure health access so that people survive, the World Health Organization (WHO) has been supporting the earthquake response in Syria and Türkiye with immediate dispatch of life-saving medicines and supplies.

“From the first day of the earthquake as WHO we released pre-positioned medical and surgical supplies in the Syrian Arab Republic to 16 hospitals treating survivors of the earthquake in the northwest of the country”, said Catharina Boehme, WHO’s Chef de Cabinet. “Yesterday, 9^th February, one flight arrived in Türkiye carrying medical and surgical trauma supplies from our logistic hub in Dubai”.

Another flight will arrive today in Syria and a third flight is being panned and expected to arrive in the Syrian Arab Republic on Sunday. In total, these 110 metric tons of life-saving supplies will be used to treat and care for 400,000 people.

With hundreds of clinics damaged, WHO will not only provide urgent response but also primary and obstetric services.

 “We do indeed have the trauma specialists, so people who can deal with multiple fractures, crush injuries, know how to deal with the complications and can bring in their expertise and also their specialist equipment”, said Margaret Harris, WHO’s spokesperson.

WHO has released USD 3 million from the Contingency Fund for Emergencies for the response in both countries.

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