Türkiye earthquakes and UNICEF’s response

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More than six months after the devastating earthquakes hit Türkiye and northern Syria, recovery efforts are ongoing to aid the nearly 4 million children still in need of humanitarian aid. While massive strides have been made to support these communities, international support is still needed to help restore a sense of safety and normalcy.

An estimated 1.6 million people are living in informal sites with limited or no access to basic services, including water, sanitation or social protection. A further 800,000 people are living in tents or containers at more formal sites. Where services are available, they are often not accessible to children with disabilities.

Efforts to provide informal education, as well as routine health services and immunization are in place, yet constrained. More than 300,000 buildings were estimated to have been damaged or destroyed by the earthquake, with repairs to water and sanitation networks being critical to ensuring access to safe water and sanitation facilities for children and families in the months ahead.

There remains a need for psychosocial support services for children and their caregivers to help them process what they’ve experienced and mitigate their risk of developing anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.