DEC charities overcome challenges to deliver aid to north-west Syria as appeal raises £65 million in four days

One week after the devastating earthquake struck, DEC charities are delivering vital aid in north-west Syria despite challenges with access and active conflict.  

Donations to the DEC Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal have now reached £65.8 million since the appeal was launched on Thursday. The total includes £5 million matched by the UK Government through the UK Aid Match scheme. 

In Syria more than 4,300 people have been killed and homes, hospitals and infrastructure devastated in a country where, even before the earthquake, 3.3 million people did not have enough to eat. 

In the north-west of the country near the Turkish border, an area not under the control of the Syrian government, at least 57 hospitals have been partially damaged or have suspended their services. Banks are closed leaving people unable to access cash to pay for food and other everyday items. 

DEC charities, which have been operating in Syria for more than a decade, are assisting directly with local staff and through local partners, by distributing hot meals, emergency tents and winter kits. They are also supporting hospitals and other health care services. 

Since the earthquakes struck, more than 50 aid trucks from five UN agencies were transferred to north-west Syria as of Sunday (12 Feb). 

DEC Director of Programmes & Accountability Madara Hettiarachchi said: “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. 

“DEC charities are used to working in fragile contexts such as this and while the needs are huge, donations from the UK public are getting through and making a huge difference to people in desperate need in north-west Syria.” 

Examples of aid being delivered in Syria by DEC charities and their partners include: 

• Working with partners, Save the Children has provided 7,500 people with ready to eat meals, 500 people with blankets, and 300 people with tents in Idlib province. It has also provided food to 200 search and rescue teams and fuel to two hospitals. 
• NGO Violet, a local partner of ActionAid, has been carrying out search and rescue operations and rescued a young girl from the rubble in north-west Syria after she was trapped for more than 36 hours. 
• The British Red Cross working through the Syrian Arab Red Crescent is delivering health assistance, hot meals, and other essentials as well as supporting search and rescue operations. 
• 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.  
• ActionAid is prioritising Syria (as well as parts of Turkey) providing winter items such as clothes and blankets and is deploying staff from the Jordan office.  
• CAFOD will be responding to emerging needs as they develop through local partners, with a focus on nutrition and protection programmes for affected communities.   
• Action Against Hunger is responding in Aleppo.

Aid delivery continues in Turkey. Action Against Hunger has been working with local partners such as Support to Life to conduct assessments to ensure immediate needs are covered. They have been distributing items such as food, water, tents, heaters, blankets and basic hygiene items. 

Action Against Hunger also supports local relief initiatives; this has included helping to build a community kitchen in a village near Kahramanmaras, which gives people the chance to cook their own food and provides a sense of community and feeling rooted in the aftermath of the earthquake. 

For more information, please visit the DEC website.

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.