A race against time to rescue and support survivors in Türkiye and Syria

Rescuers scramble to find survivors in the village of Besnia in Syria, following the catastrophic earthquakes that struck both Türkiye and Syria on 6 February, killing thousands and injuring many more. “UNFPA is committed to support the people of Türkiye and Syria affected by the earthquakes, including the pregnant women who are expected to give birth in the coming weeks under these difficult conditions,” said Dr. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of UNFPA. “Their ability to access quality care before, during and after delivery must not be an afterthought.”

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A child receives urgent care in the town of Sarmada in Syria in the wake of the devastating earthquakes. The initial quake struck in the early hours of the morning on 6 February while people slept, with the second hitting later in the day amid a series of aftershocks, compounding the devastation. The governments of both Türkiye and Syria have declared national emergencies and called for international support.

© OCHA/Ali Haj Suleiman
Women embrace amid a sea of debris in Hatay, Türkiye. Thousands of buildings, including maternity facilities and safe spaces for women and girls, have been severely damaged or destroyed. UNFPA’s urgent priority is to restore services that are crucial to the health and well-being of women and girls.

© Getty Images/Burak Kara
Rescuers comb through piles of rubble in Lattakia, Syria, hoping to find survivors in a race against time amid the overwhelming devastation.

© UNFPA Syria/Mosaic
Rescuers work into the night, continuing to find people trapped under the rubble alive, including this young girl rescued in Hatay, Türkiye.

© SGDD-ASAM Turan Berker Akdevelioğlu
A newborn baby—who was found still tied by her umbilical cord to her mother—was pulled from the rubble of a home in northern Syria. Now receiving medical care at a clinic in Afrin, Syria, the infant is the sole survivor of her immediate family. Among the millions of people in Türkiye and Syria who have been affected by the quakes are tens of thousands of pregnant women who need access to maternal health services.

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Women working with the UNFPA-supported Women and Girls Safe Space visit the Şanlıurfa Training and Research Hospital in Türkiye, providing postnatal counseling and delivering maternal kits—containing clothes and supplies for both mother and baby—to pregnant women and new mothers.

© Harran University, WGSS
Staff members of the UNFPA-supported Women and Girls Safe Space deliver much-needed maternal kits to women at the Şanlıurfa Training and Research Hospital in Türkiye. The kits include baby clothes, hand soap, baby blankets, underwear, postpartum pads, baby shampoo, baby rash cream, diapers, and baby-safe wipes, among other items.

© Harran University, WGSS
UNFPA Syria and partners arrived rapidly in affected areas, such as this devastated neighborhood in Aleppo, to assess needs and provide immediate assistance.

© UNFPA Syria
Staff members of UNFPA Syria carry out an assessment of needs in Aleppo and across the country, providing support via mobile clinics and safe spaces and handing out dignity kits and winter kits containing crucial supplies.

© UNFPA Syria
A fresh snowfall adds to the challenge of rescue efforts in Elbistan, Türkiye. Amid freezing temperatures, survivors have been building fires from pieces of wood in the debris in an attempt to stay warm. Another crisis looms if people cannot soon access shelter, food, and other essentials.

© Getty Images/Mehmet Kacmaz
A child finds a place to sleep on a pile of bedding supplies provided by humanitarians in the town of Jandairisin in Syria.

© UNOCHA/Mohanad Zayat
Urgently constructed camps in Diyarbakır, Türkiye, provide temporary shelter amid vast needs across both Türkiye and Syria.

© KAMER - WGSS
In Lattakia, Syria, a UNFPA-supported Safe Space sets up shelter for survivors left homeless by the catastrophic quakes.

© UNFPA Syria/Mosaic
A woman waits for news of her loved ones, believed to be trapped under a collapsed building in Hatay, Türkiye. “The lives of so many people have been torn apart,” said Dr. Kanem. “Amidst the devastation and uncertainty that natural disasters bring, UNFPA will continue to do what is needed and what it does best: respond to women’s and girls’ emergency healthcare and protection needs.”

© Getty Images/Burak Kara