Supporting the urgent needs and recovery process of women, girls, and their families affected by the earthquakes in Türkiye
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Over one month has passed since the catastrophic earthquakes that struck Southeastern Türkiye, killing over 46,000 people and injuring many more. Since then, there have been over 10000 aftershocks, with some strong enough to continue destroying buildings and causing more life loss and injuries.
The earthquakes have had devastating impacts on 11 provinces of Türkiye, with a population of around 14 million. Women and girls make up half of this population, and 34 per cent are under 18. 54 per cent of the population over 60 years old are women, and 8 per cent of the 3.5 million households in these provinces are female-headed households with at least one child.
On this International Women’s Day, UN Women Türkiye is drawing attention to the impact this emergency is having on women and girls, and the important role they should play in the immediate, medium- and long-term recovery process. Read the Op-Ed by Asya Varbanova, UN Women Türkiye’s Country Director.
Disasters like earthquakes impact women and girls differently. For a sustainable and inclusive response and recovery, their different needs and priorities should be mainstreamed across the humanitarian response. Read the Expert’s Take from Lama Aljaradi, working for UN Women since 2022, who survived the devastating earthquakes. Expert’s Take: “It was the longest minute of my life”
UN Women’s partners, including women’s organizations, have been responding to the urgent needs of women from the beginning. Read the story of women activists from KAMER Foundation and how they have been providing psychological support to women and girls in need. Civil society steps in to heal women’s post-earthquake trauma in Türkiye
From day one, women have been taking an active role in the earthquake response. Their presence support women and girls in meeting their needs and priorities. Read the story of Sevgim Parıltı, a woman chef from Ankara who supported the response by cooking for and serving meals to survivors. In the Words of Sevgim Parıltı: “Your choice can make a difference. Just like me, helping as a chef at the forefront of the crisis response”
Furthermore, UN Women Türkiye’s partner, the Community Volunteers Foundation (TOG, for its acronym in Turkish), deployed over 800 volunteers, half of them women, to support humanitarian response in some of the areas most affected by the earthquakes. Women volunteers play a life-saving role in the earthquake response.
The collection and analysis of sex disaggregated data and the completion of a gender analysis are key to providing insight on the different needs and priorities of women and girls, men, and boys and to enable targeted and needs-based support and services. UN Women is in the process of conducting a number of assessments, including on the situation of women’s organizations and of women’s businesses in the affected region, and is also taking part of broader UN assessments to ensure that the situations and needs of women and girls are reflected.
In support of the government-led response, UN Women works with partners from public institutions, civil society and other UN agencies in addressing the urgent needs of women and girls impacted by the earthquakes for essential supplies, information, psycho-social support and safety, while simultaneously preparing programs to respond to their longer-term recovery needs. UN Women has taken part in the UN Flash Appeal, announced on 16 February, and has launched a global donation campaign. Supported by UN Women Türkiye National Goodwill Ambassador Demet Evgar, the campaign continues to receive donations, along with ten additional campaigns run by UN Women National Committees around the world. Click here to see the global donation campaign.