Hayata Destek Derneği / Support to Life (STL)

Support to Life (STL) is a humanitarian aid agency founded with the principal objective of working with communities to help them meet their basic needs and rights.

Emergency relief aid is provided impartially in response to humanitarian crises with a focus on laying the foundations for rehabilitation, reconstruction and participatory development.  Disaster preparedness and disaster risk reduction are important components of STL\'s mission.

Sema Genel Karaosmanoğlu, one of the founding members of STL and current Director, has brought her in-depth knowledge and extensive experience in relief aid, recovery and development work in Belgium, Turkey, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran.

STL started with a recovery mission in Bam, Iran after the devastating earthquake in the historic city in 2003.  Concentrating recovery efforts in social protection, capacity building and livelihood support, STL moved on to its second mission in the mountains of Kashmir of Pakistan after the earthquake in October 2005.  Working with rural communities in Kashmir, STL provided humanitarian assistance in the areas of shelter, food, water and sanitation, emergency education, psychosocial care, infrastructure recovery, school reconstruction, and community-based disaster risk reduction, linking relief with development.