On International Women's Day, the DEC's Shagufta Yaqub remembers three women she met in the aftermath of the February 2023 earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria.

Zeynep had broken her back when a wall collapsed on her during the earthquake that hit Turkey in February last year. Yet she was still the backbone of her family, holding it together for everyone through immense pain, physical and emotional turmoil. This International Women’s Day I want to share the stories of three women who are putting others first, despite their own challenges.

The Independent details the DEC's response to the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. 

The article features images from a variety of DEC charities and the many ways they have used DEC funds to support people affected by the devastating earthquakes. 

In a report from ITV news the DEC's Director of Programmes and Accountability, Madara Hettiarachchi, writes about her experience in Hatay, one of the areas worst affected by the earthquakes.

'The first thing that strikes you when you visit Hatay, southern Turkey, is the sheer scale of the destruction wrought by the devastating earthquakes that hit the area one year ago.' she writes. 

Madara has been in southern Turkey one year on from the earthquakes, visiting projects funded by the Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal. 

One year on from the earthquakes, iNews's Global Affairs Correspondent Molly Blackall recently travelled to southern Turkey, visiting projects supported by the DEC Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal. 

In her article she highlights the stories of Syrian refugees who had been affected by the earthquakes. She talks about meeting Beyda, whose children receiving phycological support from a school set up by DEC charity International Rescue Committee.

One year after devastating earthquakes hit Turkey and Syria, the DEC appeal has now raised an incredible £158.5 million, making it one of our largest ever appeals.

Thank you for your generosity.

Nurse Haneen is one of the many staff in a camp hospital in Syria who put her patients first in the aftermath of the devastating earthquakes. 

The hospital is supported by Violet, the local partner of DEC charity ActionAid, with DEC funds covering the cost of the emergency department and maternity and neonatal wards.

The hospital is a lifeline for displaced families in northwest Syria, where 84% of the population need health assistance after years of conflict have devastated health infrastructure.

Cash assistance is one of the most effective ways to support communities affected by disaster.

Cash payments or vouchers allow families to buy what they need, like food, clothes, household items or other priorities. 

Find out more on how cash support is helping people in Turkey and Syria survive.

6 months on from the first earthquakes, DEC Chief Executive Saleh Saeed travelled to Turkey to visit projects being supported by the Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal, featured in a report from ITV News. 

Whilst there, the team visited projects being run by DEC charities Save The Children, Concern and International Rescue Committee (IRC). 

The projects have been helping provide local people with essential aid, such as clean water, food and hygiene products. 

Violet Organisation are a humanitarian charity based in Turkey and Syria, and local partner of DEC charity Action Aid receiving funds through our appeal.

Recently, their founder Fouad Sayed Issa spoke to Channel 4 News about Violets work, the challenges still faced by people in Turkey & Syria, as well as his own personal experience with the earthquakes. 

Action Aid and Violet have been using DEC funds to provide essential aid to people in northwest Syria, including food, clean water and mental health support of those affected. 

Donations to the Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal have reached £151.8 million, six months on from the the earthquakes across southern Turkey and northwest Syria. The total includes £5 million matched by the UK Government through the Aid Match scheme.

DEC Chief Executive Saleh Saeed recently visited DEC-funded projects in Gaziantep, southern Turkey, visiting DEC funded projects and meeting people affected by the earthquakes.

He said: "It’s clear that it will be a very long road to recovery from this terrible disaster, but we met so many people in Turkey who wanted us to thank the British public and all who have supported them through the DEC. Thank you to everyone who has donated, we are all incredibly grateful.”

The Independent has reported that a convoy carrying U.N. aid has entered Syria's last rebel-held enclave from government-held territory. 

This is the first time a shipment of aid from the U.N. has crossed lines since the earthquakes in hit Syria in February.

The convoy with humanitarian supplies crossed from a government-controlled area in the province of Aleppo, and entered Idlib, according to the U.N. office for humanitarian affairs (OCHA). 

The BBC's Middle East correspondent, Anna Foster, recently traveled to Idlib in Northern Syria to meet survivors living in the area, months after the earthquakes struck.

She interviewed Ali, who has been living in tent with his two daughter since the earthquake struck, he said:

"Life right now is very difficult. Living in tents is miserable, but we thank Allah that we are alive," 

In north-west Syria around 60% of people in the region affected by the February earthquakes were already displaced.

DEC charities and their local partners have been working since the first earthquake struck and are helping people on both sides of the border of Turkey and Syria despite the ongoing challenges.

They have been providing tents, warm clothing and heaters, hot meals, clean water and medical care.  

A new report from Emily Retter, Feature Editor at The Daily Mirror, showcases the stories of families affected by the earthquakes. 

Reporting from locations around southern Turkey, families recall stories of saving loved ones from the rubble following the earthquakes.

Quoted in the report was Andy Buchanan, country director for Turkey at DEC charity Concern Worldwide. Concern Worldwide worked to provided water tanks to support people in the area after the earthquakes struck.

A new report from Fundanur Ozturk, Berza Simsek, reporting for BBC News in Turkey, tells the story of people still searching for loved ones, 7 weeks after the deadly earthquakes hit the region. 

There is no official figure for the number of missing people across Turkey following the earthquakes, however nearly 2,000 unaccompanied children have been rescued from under the rubble and registered with the authorities, according to official figures provided by the Ministry of Family and Social Affairs.

DEC charities are continuing to work in Turkey and Northern Syria to suppose those affected by the earthquakes, providing medical treatment, shelter, psychological support and more. 

"For me, this community kitchen provides us with security, because we know we're getting hot food at a certain time every day and aid on a regular basis," says one 20-year-old Turkish man who has been staying in the tents and using the kitchen since the earthquake.

DEC charity Action Against Hunger is providing 3,000 meals a day for earthquake survivors.

Their Royal Highnesses The Prince and Princess of Wales visited Hayes Muslim Centre alongside DEC charities Islamic Relief UK, Save the Children UK, Action Against Hunger UK, British Red Cross and HelpAge International, local partner of Age International.

During the visit they thanked those involved in the aid effort and local fundraisers helping communities affected by the earthquakes.

This included the Turkish Women’s Association, an organisation that partnered with the local community and a number of local schools to raise more than £10,000 for the appeal.

The Prince and Princess of Wales also joined two pupils from Waldegrave School; Dila Kaya, 14, Lina Alkutubi, 15, and their teacher Natasha Rustam to help make an origami crane, a symbol of hope and healing during challenging times.

Donations to the DEC's Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal have reached £100 million in just a fortnight as the two countries continue to grapple with a vast humanitarian crisis following the disaster.

The funds are already providing urgent relief for people affected by the earthquakes including emergency shelter, medical care, hot food and food parcels, blankets, bedding and other household items, clean water and safe spaces for children.

“The public's generous response to the DEC’s appeal for survivors of the earthquakes in Syria and Turkey has been incredibly moving to see," said actor Daniel Craig, who presented the TV appeal on ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky.

“The earthquakes lasted seconds but the aftermath will last for years. Since I filmed the broadcast appeal, the numbers of people confirmed as killed or injured have gone up by tens of thousands.   

“Hospitals, schools and businesses have been reduced to rubble, and hundreds of thousands of people have been left homeless in freezing winter conditions. Please do what you can to help them by supporting the DEC appeal.”  

Turkey has been hit by another 6.4-magnitude earthquake and a second measuring 5.8. The tremors struck in Hatay province, close to the border with Syria, areas that were already badly damaged by the earthquakes two weeks ago.

Media reported that more buildings had collapsed in both countries and people had run into the streets in panic. SEMA, a local partner of Age International working in north-west Syria, said one of their hospitals had to be evacuated after being damaged by the latest earthquake. 

Other DEC charities and partners were also responding. "In the aftermath of the earthquake we worked overnight to put up tents, as we are expecting shelters will be overcrowded as new people evacuated their homes to the streets and shelters as they are deemed safer." said Hisham Dirani, CEO of Violet, ActionAid’s local partner in northwest Syria.

In just one example of how DEC charities are helping in Syria the aftermath of the earthquakes, Oxfam is delivering clean drinking water to survivors by truck.

This water trucking delivered 182,000 litres of water to 26,000 people in 17 collective centres and affected neighbourhoods. The project is ongoing.

DEC charities have contributed to the Twitter thread below on how they're helping people affected by the earthquakes in both Turkey and Syria.

The Charity Commission has urged the public to "give safely" when looking to support international aid efforts in response to earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. 

In their statement, the commission, which oversees the regulation of registered charities in England and Wales, has mentioned the DEC Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal as an example of a safe place to make a donation. 

Gerald Oppenheim, Chief Executive of the Fundraising Regulator said: "The British public are generous and will be eager to support the relief work led by the DEC and its member charities where they can. Please carry out our recommended checks before donating money or goods to make sure you are giving to a genuine cause and that your generously donated money reaches its intended destination."

The area impacted by the earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria is huge and the humanitarian need is great.

DEC chairites are on the ground across the affected regions supplying vital aid, but more help is still needed.

DEC member charity, Age International, working through partner Syrian Expatriate Medical Association (SEMA) delivers water and other aid to older people, especially older women and those with disabilities, who have been affected by the earthquake.

Since the earthquakes struck southern Turkey (now known as Türkiye) and north-west Syria, there have been reports of aid struggling to get into the country and support people. 

Lyse Marie Doucet, the BBC's Chief International Correspondent explains for BBC News online why the situation in Syria is so challenging. 10 of The DEC's member charities, some through local partners, were already working in NW Syria before the earthquake hit. 

DEC Director of Programmes & Accountability Madara Hettiarachchi has said on the situation in Syria: “After 12 years of conflict, people in north-west Syria were already struggling to cope on a daily basis, with a shortage of resources and damaged infrastructure including water supplies and healthcare. The earthquake has made a desperate situation even worse. 

“DEC member charities have been working in Syria for years, and have strong links with trusted local partners. They are currently delivering blankets, heaters, water, and cooked food and are coordinating with UN agencies and others to collectively ensure that aid is getting through to the people who need it."

Due to the incredible generosity of the U.K. public our Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal has raised over £52 million in the first two days, including £5 million in Uk Aid Match. 

Following Monday’s earthquake more than 24,000 people are sadly now known to have been killed, with many more injured and hundreds of thousands left homeless. DEC charities and their local partners have been providing support to people on the ground in Turkey and Syria. Examples include:

• NGO Violet, a local partner of ActionAid, rescued a young girl from the rubble in north-west Syria after she was trapped for more than 36 hours.
• The British Red Cross are working through the Turkish Red Crescent which is delivering tents, blankets, kitchen sets and food.
• In Turkey, CARE International has been distributing winter clothes, blankets, generators, food and drinking water. In Syria, it will be using DEC funding to distribute stocks of essential items including tents and blankets provided by the UK Government.
• Save the Children have been distributing hot meals in Hatay, Turkey, one of the most severely affected areas.
• SEMA, a local partner of Age International, delivered 50 emergency shelter tents in Idlib, north-west Syria, and is providing hospital treatment to people injured in the earthquake.
• The International Rescue Committee is working with partners to support hospitals and other health care services as well as providing dignity kits and household items.

Thank you for your supporting the appeal.

Thank you to Their Majesties The King and The Queen Consort for making a generous donation to the DEC Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal. Donations are providing medical aid, food, blankets and urgent aid to survivors.

Footage from The Guardian shows the large-scale damage caused by the two earthquakes. 

An appeal has been launched by the UK's Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) to help hundreds of thousands of people affected by earthquakes that hit Turkey and Syria.

DEC chief executive Saleh Saeed described the scenes in Turkey and Syria as "heartbreaking", with thousands "losing loved ones suddenly in the most shocking of ways". 

"Despite the challenges they are all experiencing now... aid is getting through and they are scaling up," he said.

The UK government will match the first £5m of donations from the public. Money raised will also provide blankets, warm clothes and heaters for safe spaces.

The official death toll from the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and neighbouring Syria has sadly risen to more than 11,200. 17 million people live in the area affected by the massive earthquake.

ITV's Nick Dixon reports for Good Morning Britain on the ongoing rescue efforts in Turkey and Syria. 

Rescue teams in both countries enter a third day working to find survivors who have been trapped underneath rubble from fallen buildings. Many other survivors across the country are now sleeping in cars, outside or in government shelters as their homes have been destroyed. 

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said the death toll in Turkey and Syria following Monday's earthquake could rise eight-fold as resources find more victims trapped under rubble. 

"We always see the same thing with earthquakes, unfortunately, which is that the initial reports of the numbers of people who have died or who have been injured will increase quite significantly in the week that follows," said Catherine Smallwood, the WHO's senior emergency officer for Europe.