Photo essay

Delivering supplies to reach those affected by earthquakes in Syria and Türkiye

Find out how UNICEF has been working to provide children and their families with the supplies they need to survive in the aftermath of the disaster.

UNICEF
Children and families fill jerrycans with clean water at a distribution point in Aleppo city, northern Syrian Arab Republic.
UNICEF/UN0781308/Al-Asadi
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06 March 2023

Thousands of children and families are facing desperate conditions after the two devastating earthquakes and hundreds of aftershocks that hit Syria and south-east Türkiye on 6 February 2023.

UNICEF has been working around the clock to provide life-saving assistance to those affected by the earthquakes.

Find out some of UNICEF’s actions to ensure children have the supplies they need to survive.

This photo was originally published on 15 February 2023 and updated on 6 March 2023.

Shipping essential supplies

In Türkiye, UNICEF has distributed winter clothes, electrical heaters and blankets to nearly 277,000 people, including over 163,000 children. Working closely with the Ministry of Health, UNICEF is procuring life-saving vaccines and cold chain storage equipment. 258,000 people, including 148,000 children received hygiene supplies.

In Syria, since the beginning of the response, UNICEF has reached more than 487,100 people with life-saving water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services and supplies, including through water trucking, solid waste management, desludging of septic tanks as well as the provision of family hygiene kits and other lifesaving supplies.

UNICEF

Water supplies

In Syria, providing access to safe drinking water and sanitation services is critical in preventing illness. UNICEF and its partners have been working to provide critical water and sanitation as part of wider life-saving assistance to earthquake-affected communities.

In Syria, 13-year-old Moustafa stands in front of a water truck at a distribution point in the Almyassar neighbourhood of Aleppo.

In Syria, 13-year-old Moustafa stands in front of a water truck at a distribution point in the Almyassar neighbourhood of Aleppo. “I came here to fetch water so we can use it to wash up and for drinking,” says Moustafa, who came here with his grandfather. “Since the earthquake happened, we did not have water.”

UNICEF/UN0781298/Al-Asadi
A WASH Facilitator for UNICEF Syria, checks the quality of trucked water in Almyassar.

Mohammad, a Water and Sanitation (WASH) Facilitator for UNICEF Syria, checks the quality of trucked water in Almyassar.

NICEF/UN0781299/Al-Asadi
Children and their families fill jerrycans with clean water at a distribution point in Almyassar.

Children and their families fill jerrycans with clean water at a distribution point in Almyassar.

UNICEF/UN0781310/Al-Asadi
In Syria, 13-year-old Moustafa stands in front of a water truck at a distribution point in the Almyassar neighbourhood of Aleppo.
A WASH Facilitator for UNICEF Syria, checks the quality of trucked water in Almyassar.
Children and their families fill jerrycans with clean water at a distribution point in Almyassar.

Heaters to keep children warm

Dispatch of over 1,000 electrical heaters to keep children and families warm.
Turkey-UN0781570-2023 UNICEF is helping with the dispatch of over 1,000 electrical heaters to keep children and families warm. Thousands of homes were destroyed by the earthquakes and aftershocks, displacing children and their families at a time of year when low temperatures, snow and freezing rain are common.

Nutrition support

Hamzeh, 4, is screened for malnutrition by a UNICEF-supported mobile health team leader in Aleppo, north Syria.
UNICEF/UN0781270/Al-Asadi Hamzeh, 4, is screened for malnutrition by Hiba, a UNICEF-supported mobile health team leader, using a mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) tape in the Alsalheen neighbourhood in Aleppo, north Syria.

Loading supplies

At the UNICEF Global Supply and Logistics Hub in Copenhagen, Denmark, supplies are loaded onto trucks which were dispatched to Syria via Türkiye.
UNICEF/UN0780756/Mansour At the UNICEF Global Supply and Logistics Hub in Copenhagen, Denmark, supplies are loaded onto trucks which were dispatched to Syria via Türkiye.

Supplies arriving in Syria

Life-saving emergency supplies arrive in Damascus, Syria as part of the earthquake response.
UNICEF Syria Life-saving emergency supplies arrive in Damascus, Syria as part of the earthquake response. UNICEF and partners will be distributing water purification tables, blankets, tents and other life-saving supplies.

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