The UN Secretary-General announced a $397 million humanitarian appeal to aid the people of earthquake-ravaged Syria, to help secure “desperately needed” relief for nearly five million people.
Updated reports about the death toll and damage continue to come in as governments and humanitarians respond to the aftermath of a devastating earthquake that struck parts of Türkiye and Syria, affecting several neighboring countries in the region. In Syria, according to official data, the death toll reaches more than 5,500 people. In addition, more than 10,000 people were injured.
At the same time, Reliefweb, quoting official government sources in Türkiye, says that more than 31,000 people lost their lives in the affected parts of the country. Almost 160,000 are being evacuated from the quake-hit areas. UN-Habitat is closely following the situation and conducting consultations to explore ways to support the earthquake response in Türkiye.
The UN estimates that over 8.8 million people in Syria have been affected. The infrastructure losses include 168 collapsed buildings and 446 damaged schools.
Rapid assessment missions
UN-Habitat, in coordination with the Shelter Sector and alongside UNHCR and UNDP, is supporting the rapid damage assessment in Syria. These rapid assessment missions seek to review initial damage and assist the residents and neighborhoods in identifying high-risk buildings to avoid further fatality and injury.
In the long run, these missions also seek to provide a certain level of assurance to the residents when they can return to their own houses. Once the situation stabilizes, UN-Habitat will conduct more thorough missions to understand the structural damage to the buildings and the assistance needed in the long run.
UN-Habitat plans to expand its engagement in a rapid damage assessment in three cities in the Hama governorate and plan activities in the Latakia governorate.
