Türkiye
In Türkiye, we focus on psychosocial support, support to Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), and distributing hygiene kits. We are also helping people affected by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake in 2023 find their feet and get their lives back on track.
Currently, we are supporting people whose businesses were destroyed by the earthquake. We have provided 1516 small-businesses grants to local entrepreneurs so that they can recover and provide their vitally needed services to the local population again.
We are providing much-needed hygiene support by distributing hygiene kits and latrines. We distributed 12,000 hygiene kits and 497 latrines, of which 162 were specially made for people with disabilities. This support has benefitted 35,000 people who have had their access to water and hygiene infrastructure destroyed by the earthquake.
Our psychologists provided psychosocial support (PSS) to 3341 people suffering from the trauma of the earthquake. PSS is vital in helping these people keep an even keel during these challenging times.
We have been working in Türkiye since 2014, specifically in the provinces of Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, Hatay and Kilis. We have supported the members of the Roma community living in Türkiye and refugees from Syria.
We also focus on resolving life- life and livelihood-threatening environmental problems. We help to provide sustainable job opportunities so that the communities we support can sustain themselves.
The situation in southeastern Türkiye
Türkiye has been the largest refugee-hosting country in the world for the past nine years. By mid-2023, there were 3,332,896 Syrians under temporary protection (TP) and 296,685 international protection (IP) applicants and status holders in Türkiye, including those from Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Ukraine and a wide range of other countries.
In February 2023, southeastern Türkiye was hit by a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake. Tens of thousands of people were killed, and up to 300,000 buildings were destroyed. Around 3 million people were forced to leave their homes either to abroad or in different parts of the country. The day after the earthquake, we launched a response to help the Gaziantep, Adiyaman, and Kahramanmaras Provinces. Since then, we have expanded into Hatay Province.
In response to the earthquake, we launched five new projects in the country with a budget of 2,646,128 USD. We also announced the SOS Earthquake Syria and Türkiye emergency appeal where we have collected a total of 4,737,012 USD.
