Over 850,000 children remain displaced by earthquake in Turkey, Syria – UNICEF

Washington: More than 850,000 children continue to be displaced by the recent deadly earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, UNICEF said in a release on Monday.
“One month on from the two catastrophic earthquakes that struck southern Türkiye and Syria, more than 850,000 children remain displaced after being forced from their damaged or destroyed homes,” the release said.
“The number of children killed and injured during the quakes and their aftermath has not yet been confirmed but is likely to be in the many thousands.“
UNICEF stressed that the impact of the earthquakes on the children and families in the region has been catastrophic. The Fund explained that hundreds of thousands of people have been left in desperate conditions, while many families have lost their homes and are now living in temporary shelters.
“In Türkiye alone, over 1.9 million people are staying in temporary accommodation shelters with limited access to basic services such as water, sanitation and medical services in the affected areas,” they noted. “2.5 million children in the country require urgent humanitarian assistance.”
The Fund went on to say that in Syria, more than 500,000 people have been forced from their homes by the earthquakes.
“Many families’ homes have been destroyed and many children are afraid to return to damaged homes as aftershocks continue,” the release said. “Even before the earthquakes, Syria had the largest number of internally displaced people in the world, with 6.8 million people displaced – including nearly three million children. Across Syria, more than 3.7 million children have been affected by the quakes.”
UNICEF has reached almost half a million people with lifesaving water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services and life saving supplies across Syria, according to the release.
“Over 294,000 people, including those taking refuge in shelters, have been reached with essential supplies and medical consultations through UNICEF-supported health centres and mobile health teams,” it explained. “More than 130,000 under five-year-old children have been supported with nutrition services across the earthquake-affected areas. UNICEF has also reached more than 100,000 children and caregivers with psychological support, including psychological first aid, recreational activities, mental health psychosocial support and parenting sessions.”
Meanwhile, UNICEF said, it has distributed winter clothes, electrical heaters and blankets to some 277,000 people, including over 163,000 children in Turkey.
“Working closely with the Ministry of Health, UNICEF is procuring life-saving vaccines and cold chain storage equipment,” it added. “258,000 people, including 148,000 children received hygiene supplies. UNICEF has been setting up child-friendly spaces near temporary accommodation centres and has so far provided psychosocial first aid and recreational activities to over 5,000 children.”
Moreover, UNICEF has supported Türkiye’s Ministry of Education to set up 87 tents to be used as temporary learning centres, the release noted.
“UNICEF has so far reached over 193,000 people with psychosocial support through trained social workers,” the release went on to say. “UNICEF continues to identify unaccompanied and separated children and refer them for further support.”
In February, two earthquakes of magnitudes 7.7 and 7.6 hit the south-eastern regions of Turkey at a nine-hour interval. The underground shocks followed by hundreds of aftershocks were felt in 11 Turkish provinces and in the neighboring states, with Syria being affected the most.
UNI/SPUTNIK