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Syria: A man and his two young children from Aleppo's rural get winter supplies like blankets and coats from Oxfam to cope with the cold season. Photo: Islam Mardini/ Oxfam

Türkiye and Syria Earthquake 2023: Oxfam’s response 1 year on

One year after the devastating earthquakes struck Syria and Türkiye, Oxfam and our partners have supported over 2 million people with clean water, sanitation systems, cash, hygiene items and clothes and blankets, food, and services to help people at risk of gender-based violence. 

The 7.8 magnitude earthquake and the aftershocks that followed killed nearly 56,000 people, leaving roughly 10 million in urgent need of assistance. 

Your impact in numbers

Syria: An Oxfam staff member delivers hygiene materials to female students in Aleppo schools to help them follow and maintain good hygiene practices. Photo: Islam Mardini/ Oxfam
An Oxfam staff member delivers hygiene materials to female students in Aleppo schools to help them follow and maintain good hygiene practices.

Thanks to generous donors, we were able to provide the following: 

Your support kept women and their families safe and healthy

Aleppo city, Syria: A woman who was severely affected by the earthquake in Aleppo utilizes the hygiene supplies she earlier received from Oxfam to help her maintain good hygiene habits. Photo: Islam Mardini/ Oxfam
A woman who was severely affected by the earthquake in Aleppo utilizes the hygiene supplies she earlier received from Oxfam to help her maintain good hygiene habits.

In Syria, people were affected by the earthquake who were already dealing with the impacts of a decade of war.  

One of them was Khadija, a mother of five whose home in Aleppo was partially destroyed. After the quake, her family struggled to access clean water and food, to keep warm and meet their basic hygiene needs. 

Khadija and women like her, received dignity kits with women’s underwear, headscarves, socks, solar lamps. 

After disaster, women are at a higher risk of sexual violence as they often have to stay in makeshift camps that have little to no lighting.  

“We were in the dark almost every night, but the solar lamp we received gave us some light,” Kadjia said. “It was my favorite item.”  

Working with local partners to create humanitarian leaders 

In both Türkiye and Syria, we worked closely with local partners as they know their communities best and know best how to provide the help and support they need. This also strengthens their capacity to respond to the next disaster.  

We worked with the Syrian Society for Social Development in Syria and in Türkiye – Association for Solidarity with Asylum Seekers and Migrants (ASAM), International Blue Crescent  and Fikir ve Sanat Atölyesi Dernegi. 

Rebuilding and recovery

Syria: Earthquake-hit families from Aleppo in Syria receive cash from an Oxfam member to enable them to purchase what they want with dignity. Photo: Islam Mardini/ Oxfam
Earthquake-hit families from Aleppo in Syria receive cash from an Oxfam member to enable them to purchase what they want with dignity.

A year after the earthquake, people in Syria and Türkiye are still facing the impacts. 

At Oxfam, we have shifted from providing live-saving aid to a longer-term recovery plan that seeks to improve and restore lives in the communities affected by the disaster.  

In Türkiye, we will be working with 20 villages in Adiyaman to rebuild and continuing to support women cooperatives, entrepreneurs and farmers in rural areas. We will help ensure refugee- and women-led organizations have a voice in decisions about the ongoing reconstruction process. 

In Syria, we will continue to support people to rebuild and help restore their dignity after years of war.  

Thank you to our donors

We are grateful for the incredible generosity of our donors who make the work of Oxfam and our partners possible.  

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