Press release

Earthquake in Turkey and Syria: UPP launches fundraising campaign in support of the population
TheItalian NGO, which has been working in north-eastern Syria for years, launches a fundraising campaign to support more than 10,000 families in need and denounces: the earthquake affects areas still suffering the consequences of Turkish attacks

Rome, 6 February 2023 - The toll, which is worsening by the hour, of the terrible earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria with its epicentre in Gaziantep is dramatic: dozens of towns have been hit, hundreds of buildings are in rubble, and the death toll stands at 1,500 people, sadly destined to rise.

Also hard hit was north-east Syria, where the Italian NGO Un Ponte Per (UPP) has been working for years alongside its local partners, including the Kurdish Red Crescent (KRC).

In the northern part of the country, it was the town of Jindires, in the Afrin district, that suffered the worst fate.

"Three-quarters of the town was destroyed: these are areas already hard hit by the Turkish attack in 2019, so the buildings did not withstand the impact of the earthquake," explains local UPP staff, who add: "People are still being searched under the rubble in the hope of finding them alive."

To cope with this new crisis affecting an area already tried by years of conflict and recent Turkish war operations, Un Ponte Per has decided to launch an emergency fundraising drive: the aid will go to support the work of the Kurdish Red Crescent (KRC) and Action for Humanity/Syria Relief (AFH), which estimates that more than 10,000 families are already in need as a result of the earthquake.

"Tents are needed for those who have lost their homes, blankets, food, hygiene kits for women and children," explains KRC staff. "And medicine: we expect worsening health conditions and numerous injuries."

Today's earthquake is in fact hitting an area that is already in a state of serious emergency, with a health system that is still highly precarious, and where UPP has been working for years with its local partners on the necessary reconstruction of clinics and hospitals destroyed by the war.

In this situation, the distribution of humanitarian aid and medicines is urgent and essential. Once the necessary materials have been collected, KRC will carry out the distributions in Aleppo and in the Shebha camp, while AFH in Sarmada, Harem and Atarbi (in the governorates of Idlib and Aleppo), all areas severely affected by the disaster.

The earthquake tremors - the first of magnitude 7.8 in the middle of the night, the second of magnitude 7.5 this morning - represent the most serious emergency of its kind the region has experienced.

To help raise funds: https://www.unponteper.it/it/emergenza-terremoto-siria/

For more information and interviews
Un Ponte Per press office
stampa@unponteper.it
+39 3996641600