Project: Earthquake Relief & Livelihoods Support in Syria and Turkey
RPI and Kids Paradise (2022, 2023, 2024)
Project Summary: Refugee Protection International and community-led partners based in Turkey assisted over 21,093 earthquake survivors in Syria (Idlib, Aleppo regions) and Turkey (Kahramanmaras, Antakya, Reyhanli, Gaziantep regions) in the initial months after the Feb 2023 quakes. 12,874 persons received emergency food aid, milk, or winter clothing. This featured project with RPI’s Turkish-based refugee-led partner Kids Paradise (KP) builds on years of jointly supporting relief aid, livelihoods, and psychosocial well-being in war-torn Syria and neighboring Turkey. Since the 2023 earthquake, RPI and KP, which implements onsite, are providing ready-to-eat meals, bread from local bakeries, tents, and blankets to Syrian and Turkish survivors. RPI continues to sell crafts made by displaced women trained in joint self-reliance projects. Funding is needed to scale psychosocial support.
Background: Since the initial 7.8 magnitude earthquake on February 6th, 2023, over 50,000 civilians have died in Turkey and Syria, with millions in need of aid. The earthquake damaged Kids Paradise office and destroyed staff housing. Hussein, KP manager, was pulled from the rubble after he, his wife and child were injured. Hours later, he rescued 2 children orphaned by the disaster, even as his extended family remained trapped below concrete. This personal experience has reinforced Kids Paradise and RPI commitment to aiding as many survivors as possible.
Funding is urgently needed to scale this program. RPI and Kids Paradise first collaborated in 2019 on assisting flooded informal camps in northwest Syria. We co-designed a self-reliance program active since 2019 that provides RPI-funded, KP-run skills training, in-kind grants, and stipends to displaced women, child care, psychosocial support, and distribution of refugee-made soap. Since late 2021, RPI sells the women’s crocheted dolls, toys, and decor in America to provide these women displaced by war and earthquakes with humanitarian cash-for-work and to fund psychosocial support for their children and hygiene in IDP camp schools. Thank you to our generous giving partners.
