Emergency and Disaster Preparedness 2001–2005
Note: Pages in this section have been stored solely for archiving purposes. Information contained here refers to the 2001–2005 CPAP. Follow this link for current details about UNICEF programmes in Turkey.
One of many waiting for word of survivors of the earthquake which demolished Çeltiksuyu Boarding School in Bingöl, May, 2003.
Photograph by Sema Hosta
© UNICEF Turkey 2003
Background
Almost 70% of the Turkish population - a total of nearly 46 million people - live in provinces with a high risk of earthquakes. Since 1950 there have been 19 earthquakes in Turkey measuring over 7 on the Richter Scale (RS). Serious problems and deficiencies have been identified in the past such as poor distribution of aid materials, problems reaching affected areas and the inability to organise search and rescue teams quickly which have hampered disaster response. Victims tend to be confused and unclear about what they should do and health service providers are often uninformed on essential topics.
A failure to take into account the special needs of children and women has left this group - the most vulnerable - worst affected. Children do not have the physical or mental strength to cope with such stress levels. Their immune systems are not fully developed so they are more prone to frequent and severe illness. Women, particularly pregnant women or those who are recovering from childbirth or breastfeeding, are similarly vulnerable.
Emergency and Disaster Preparedness (EDP) aims to institute measures which will mitigate the impact of disasters on women and children by inclusion of the special needs of women and children in disaster management plans.
Targeting the needs of women and children, EDP aims to:
- provide continuous access to health, nutrition, water and environmental sanitation, education and community-based counselling services;
- including their special needs in disaster management plans.
EDP will achieve this by:
- developing a training package for local authorities on the special needs of children and women, both during and after an emergency;
- evaluating technical equipment and upgrading local disaster management systems;
- developing a common data collection system to be used by all sectors.
All local authorities in Turkey’s eighty-one provinces will be prepared to respond to the needs of children and women during and after emergencies by 2005.
Read Less Fearful, More Active -- the story of the MONE/UNICEF Psycho-social School Project following the 1999 earthquakes in the northwestern Marmara region of Turkey.
There are more details of the response to the earthquake which demolished Çeltiksuyu Boarding School in the UNICEF Turkey Press Centre and the Summer, 2002 edition of Say Yes, our quarterly newsletter.
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