Aid effort steps up as donations to DEC Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal top £50 million in two days

Press release 11 February 2023

DEC charities and their local partners are stepping up aid delivery in Turkey and Syria as donations to the Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal reached £52.8 million in just two days. The total includes £5 million in UK Aid Match from the UK Government. 

More than 24,000 people are now known to have been killed in the disaster. Many more have been injured and hundreds of thousands left homeless. Freezing conditions continued with temperatures dropping below zero overnight and tremors were still being felt this morning. 

Examples of the work being carried out by DEC charities and their local partners 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. On being rescued, she asked to go home before remembering her home had been destroyed. 
  • 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. Its own staff are among the patients being treated in intensive care. 
  • 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. 

DEC Chief Executive Saleh Saeed said: “We’re incredibly grateful to the British public for their hugely generous response to this horrific disaster. It’s impossible not to see the images on TV and hear the stories coming from Turkey and Syria and not be moved. 

“Compassion comes in many forms, but we are urging people to donate money rather than things. What people in Turkey and Syria need today may not be what they need tomorrow and giving cash means that DEC charities can get help to people quickly and provide a wide range of support over a longer period of time.” 

For more information, please visit the DEC website.

ENDS 

Notes to editors:  

Media enquiries please call 020 7387 0200 or 07734 653616 (out of hours).  

A collection of images and video footage of the aftermath of the earthquake and DEC charities responding is available here.  

About the DEC: The DEC brings together 15 leading UK aid charities at times of crisis overseas to raise funds quickly and efficiently. In these times of crisis, people in life-and-death situations need our help and our mission is to save, protect and rebuild lives through effective humanitarian response. The DEC’s 15 member charities are: Action Against Hunger, ActionAid UK, Age International, British Red Cross, CAFOD, CARE International UK, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide UK, International Rescue Committee UK, Islamic Relief Worldwide, Oxfam GB, Plan International UK, Save the Children UK, Tearfund and World Vision UK.     

Fourteen of the DEC’s 15 members are either responding or planning to respond in Turkey and Syria and will receive funds from this appeal. Some may work through trusted local partners. They are Action Against Hunger, ActionAid UK, Age International, British Red Cross, CAFOD, CARE International UK, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide UK, International Rescue Committee UK, Islamic Relief Worldwide, Oxfam GB, Save the Children UK, Tearfund and World Vision UK.    

Through UK Aid Match the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) gives the British public the opportunity to have a say in how the UK aid budget is spent whilst boosting the impact of the very best British charities to change and save the lives of some of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people.   

UK Aid Match has increased the impact of a number of DEC appeals to help those in need around the world, including most recently Pakistan Floods Appeal and Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal, both in 2022.  The UK matched up to £25 million of public donations to DEC’s Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal - the largest commitment ever made to a DEC appeal through UK Aid Match.  

Enquiries about UK Aid Match and UK Government support for Turkey/Syria should be directed to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Newsdesk. Please email newsdesk@fcdo.gov.uk.    

How to donate:      

Online: dec.org.uk    

Phone: 0370 60 60 610   

Text to give/SMS: for press releases: text SUPPORT to 70787 to donate £10. Other partners should use the specific text codes they have been provided with by the DEC.  

Donate over the counter at any high street bank or post office, or send a cheque by post to: DEC Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal, PO Box 999, London EC3A 3AA.