German Red Cross brings relief supplies to earthquake areas in Turkiye and Syria
On the morning of February 6, 2023, a major earthquake hit the border region between Turkey and Syria. In the affected areas, more than 40,000 people lost their lives as a result of the massive tremors, and tens of thousands were injured. A large number of buildings were destroyed. Millions of people lost their homes and possessions. Conditions in the affected areas have been made even more difficult by the winter cold.
The need for humanitarian aid is great and essential: the people affected need shelter, medical care, food and drinking water above all.
Relief transports to Turkiye
On February 10 and 11, the first relief transports of the German Red Cross (GRC) started to Turkey by airplane and convoy of trucks with goods tailored to the needs on site. Basic relief supplies, especially for protection against the cold, were brought to the earthquake areas.
Further relief goods transports followed on February 17 and 21. With the participation of numerous national associations, a total of more than 340 tons of relief supplies were brought to the disaster area, including 10,000 blankets, 5,000 insulating mats, 560 mostly winter-proof family tents, 1,000 tent tarpaulins, 4,700 camp beds, 1,500 sleeping bags, 138 tent heaters, 1,000 hygiene kits, 4 sanitary containers, 182 large tents, 46 generators and two washing machines.
The transport also included four ambulances, which were handed over to the Turkish Red Crescent (TRC). In addition, funds amounting to 250,000 euros were made available to the TRC for direct use for the most urgent needs on site.
Continued assistance in Turkiye
The GRC supports the expansion of various aid activities: Psychosocial care services are being expanded for those affected. In addition, support in the form of cash assistance has been provided so that families who have lost their belongings can meet their everyday needs in a self-determined manner.
Relief flight to Syria
On February 23, 2023, a GRC relief flight transported 20 tons of relief supplies from Leipzig to Damascus. Urgently needed medicines and medical consumables were delivered. On site, the goods are distributed to health facilities in affected regions via the medical logistics network of the SARC.
In Aleppo, the GRC provides meals for affected people and supports the children's hospital on site.
Aid from the Turkish Red Crescent and Syrian Arab Red Crescent
Volunteers in both countries started helping immediately after the first quake, rescuing people from the rubble and providing emergency humanitarian aid.
Expert teams from the TRC provided blood units and essential relief supplies in the earthquake zone. They prepared hot meals for local people and provided psychosocial support.
SARC response teams supported rescue and recovery efforts and provided first aid on the ground.
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2022 was marked by the beginning of the war in Ukraine. The German Red Cross supported its sister national societies in Ukraine and the neighbouring countries in form of various programmes and projects.
Our main areas of focus were:
In the first weeks of the conflict, the focus was on immediate emergency relief measures, such as the delivery of relief supplies and the establishment of a supply line between Lublin, Poland, and Lviv, Ukraine, to support affected people in Ukraine or people on the move. In 2022, GRC sent 70 trucks with relief goods, including 37,436 hygiene packs, 42,560 blankets, 27,819 sleeping bags, 23,318 torches, 2,700 thermometers, 1 ERU health module, 500 rescue backpacks, 11 shelter tents, 5,385 camp beds, 100 hospital beds, 89 generators, 5,130 tarpaulins, 24 radiant heaters for tents, and 4,992 kitchen sets.
In preparation for the winter, GRC provided over 7,000 heating stoves for winter relief, over 200 generators of various capacities, and 22 mobile fuel stations. It also supports collective shelters in Rivne and Volyn by subsidising their running costs. In 2022, GRC supported families with over 50,000 shopping vouchers in Ukraine, focusing on internally displaced people (IDPs) and other vulnerable groups.
In cooperation with the Ukrainian Red Cross Society (URCS), GRC supported the distribution of shopping vouchers to thousands of displaced and evacuated people in the east of the country. In Poland as well, about 2,700 refugees received cash assistance until the end of 2022, with a total volume of 1.48 million euros.
GRC supports the structural and capacity building of URCS to continue to provide sustainable health care to people in Ukraine. This includes the provision of materials for health care, the running of currently 20 mobile health units in the oblasts Rivne, Volyn und Odessa, as well as home-based care in the oblasts of Rivne, Volyn, Odessa, Lviv, and Kyiv. The goal is to improve the access to basic health services, especially in remote areas, and provide medical and social services to complement the efforts of the public health sector, especially for the elderly, bedridden and people with disabilities.
The year 2022 has largely been marked by the armed conflict in Ukraine. Its consequences are a disaster for the entire civilian population concerned. For many months, violence, destruction, fear and need have substantially determined their everyday lives. And an end is unfortunately still not in sight.
The German Red Cross together with the Ukrainian Red Cross and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is supporting the population in many different ways. The focus is on immediate emergency relief above all, as well as healthcare provision for groups at particular risk such as the elderly, sick and people with disabilities in different parts of Ukraine. We are also active in numerous neighbouring countries and not least via our GRC state branches and district branches as well as the GRC local branches here in Germany, helping those who have to flee from the war.
This is only possible at this level thanks to the dedication of the many Red Cross helpers, our special expertise developed over many years and above all, thanks to your generous and continuing support. Ss of September 2022, a total of over 110 million EUR of donations for Ukraine relief has reached us. Over 62 million EUR of this comes from private donors, around 44 million EUR has been made available by companies and more than four million EUR by foundations. A sum that illustrates just how moved the people of Germany are by the fate of people in Ukraine and how much they trust us, the German Red Cross.
We would like to warmly thank you for your generosity! The sad truth is that our work has to be continued, in Ukraine, but also in many other countries that are not so much present in our minds nowadays. The challenges worldwide remain immense and are continually increasing. In order to be able to stem them, we continue to rely on your solidarity.
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After natural disasters people in the affected regions are often left with nothing. Earthquakes, flooding or storms quickly destroy whole regions and livelihoods. In the event of armed conflicts, the civil population suffers above all from violence and lack of food and medical care. In such dramatic events, every minute counts. That is why the emergency relief of the German Red Cross runs like a clockwork: Immediate aid and emergency relief try to mitigate the consequences of the crises.
The German Red Cross brings aid to the injured, to refugees and displanced persons and the sick, provides medicine, water and food or supports the building of shelters, usually via the local sister Red Cross or Red Crescent society. We also support them in establishing their own structures for the management of volunteers.
Relief supplies on site and in stock
If possible, relief supplies like food, tarpaulins and clothing are locally procured and transported to the crisis region on the shortest and quickest way. Alternatively relief supplies for 300,000 people are available in the logistics centres of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Kuala Lumpur, Panama and Dubai. Relief supplies from Germany are usually flown-in only if the capacities of these international logistics centres are not sufficient.Above all, relief flights from Germany will start if the basic needs of the affected population shall be secured and if relief can only be brought into the country from outside, primarily in the case of large-scale disasters.
This starts with clean water and basic medical care. Therefore the German Red Cross provides three different types of Emergency Response Units in its logistics centre in Berlin: The mobile Red Cross hospital, the mobile health care unit and water- and hygiene units.The emergency relief units, tents and hygiene packets are stored in the logistics centre and are delivered on request. Relief supplies with an expiry date such as food and medicine are bought within the shortest period of time. For this purpose the German Red Cross has concluded framework agreements with numerous suppliers in advance. In the case of an emergency, the suppliers will deliver the relief items immediately.
The modular system—flexible and fast emergency relief
In an emergency the German Red Cross can react quickly and flexibly with its emergency response units. These mobile modules are deployed for the supply of a large number of affected people and in the first few days help to create the most important prerequisites for efficient humanitarian aid. Flexibility, speed and need-orientation are the skills that are required in a disaster situation.The German Red Cross has therefore developed together with other national societies a unique modular system for worldwide disaster relief. The various modules can be adapted to the situation and to the specific needs in the disaster region.The German Red Cross keeps three different emergency response units available for this purpose: the mobile Red Cross hospital, the mobile health care unit and the mobile DWS units for drinking water supply and disease prevention.
In addition, basic technical equipment, emergency vehicles and tents are kept available for the Red Cross aid workers.
These mobile units have proved themselves in practice in disaster relief operations. They are designed for deployments of between three to four months in crisis areas, during the first two weeks of which the team is completely self-sufficient. In addition the units can be operated self-sufficiently in terms of energy by using their own power generators. Even the packing material of the units is part of the utilisation plan—it is used to construct tables and shelves.The modules are compliant with international standards. Handling is simplified to enable disaster response staff and volnteers from different countries to work together. These Emergency Response Units (ERUs) are known by this name internationally and they have often proved themselves in practice to be a well-conceived system of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.
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