UN continues to provide quake-related aid to Syria, Türkiye-Xinhua

UN continues to provide quake-related aid to Syria, Türkiye

Source: Xinhua

Editor: huaxia

2023-03-15 04:21:45

UNITED NATIONS, March 14 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations continues to provide quake-related aid to Syria and Türkiye, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Tuesday.

As of Tuesday, 787 trucks carrying aid provided by seven UN agencies have crossed into Northwest Syria since the Feb. 6 earthquakes, said OCHA.

In areas under government control, humanitarian organizations provided aid to more than 310,000 people in February and over 140,000 people so far in March, primarily in the most affected governorates of Aleppo, Hama and Lattakia, it said.

According to the Syrian Ministry of Education, more than 2,500 schools in Aleppo, Lattakia, Tartous, Hama, Homs and Idlib have been damaged. Of these, more than 1,800 schools have reopened, while 129 schools are still currently being used as shelters.

In Türkiye, the United Nations and humanitarian partners continue to mobilize emergency teams and relief operations in support of the Turkish government response to the earthquakes. To date, OCHA and its partners have provided more than 46,000 tents and over 5.7 million food packages, as well as hot meals and hundreds of thousands of relief items, including mattresses, bedding, tarpaulins and hygiene kits, said the office.

The World Health Organization is coordinating 14 emergency medical teams on the ground, it said.

According to the International Organization for Migration, some 2.7 million people in Türkiye were displaced by the earthquakes. Millions in the country have lost their homes and livelihoods. They need life-saving aid to meet basic needs, said OCHA.

High priority needs include shelter, food, water, sanitation, hygiene, health, nutrition and psychosocial support, it said.

Funding for the humanitarian response is urgently needed. As of Tuesday, the 1-billion-U.S. dollar flash appeal for Türkiye remains less than 14 percent funded.