Partners continue to support Türkiye and Syria after earthquakes
The United States and international partners continue to support survivors of the devastating earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria.
On March 20, the US government, through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), announced an additional $50 million in humanitarian assistance for earthquake relief in the region, bringing total US support to the response to more than $235 million dollars.
The new funding continues to provide food aid, clean water, sanitation, shelter and household items, and psychosocial support to help people recover from the trauma of the February 6 earthquakes that killed more than 50,000 people and are at least 3 million people have been displaced.
The United States announced the assistance during the international donors’ conference “Together for the People” in Türkiye and Syria in Brussels, co-hosted by the European Commission and the Swedish Presidency of the European Union and will provide $7.5 billion in humanitarian assistance brought up.
“The US will continue to support those affected in Türkiye and Syria,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said on March 21, praising the EU-led fundraiser. “We welcome and encourage the continued support of our international partners at this time of great need.”
Here are several ways the United States and international partners are helping.
The United States is working with international and domestic partners, including UN agencies and nongovernmental organizations, to provide assistance. Above: Supplies arrive at a camp for families displaced by disasters in A’zaz, Syria, on March 1.
On March 7, US Ambassador to Türkiye Jeffry Flake announced the donation of a US Department of Defense field hospital to the Turkish Ministry of Health. The US military, with support from USAID, built the hospital at the request of the Turkish government on the campus of Mustafa Kemal University in Hatay province.
UNICEF builds schools and supports children affected by earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria. Above: A UNICEF worker plays with children at a stadium used as a shelter for displaced families in Latakia, Syria, on February 23. The United States is UNICEF’s largest donor.
The Americans also donated millions of dollars to earthquake relief through charities like the Turkish Philanthropy Funds and the Chicago-based nonprofit Karam Foundation, which supports displaced Syrians, and through websites like CIDI.org. The donations support charities including the Syrian American Medical Society, Relief International and the Karam Foundation, seen above distributing relief supplies in Türkiye.
The United States, through USAID, worked with the United Nations International Organization for Migration to fly 816,000 kilograms of supplies, including blankets, shelter and hygiene kits, which were distributed in southern Türkiye on February 19. The supplies reached the people affected by the earthquake in both Türkiye and Syria.
The US business community has pledged more than $111 million to international organizations responding to the earthquake, including UN agencies, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and Islamic Relief USA, which unloaded relief supplies in Türkiye on February 13.
