Turkey and Syria: one hundred days after the earthquake, thousands of children are fighting against hunger and the inconvenience caused by school closures

ROME – One hundred days after the earthquakes that hit southern Turkey and northern Syria, millions of children and families are struggling to rebuild their lives. The data is alarming: 2.5 million children in Turkey and 3.7 million in Syria need constant humanitarian assistance. The first two devastating earthquakes on February 6, 2023, followed by thousands of aftershocks, left many families with nothing and many children without homes and without access to essential services, including clean water, education and medical care.

Poverty. The latest UNICEF report highlights how many of the affected areas were already poor before the earthquake, so the disaster affected many people who were already vulnerable. Children in particular have lost their families, loved ones, and have seen their homes, schools and communities devastated. Even before the recent earthquakes, many families in the affected areas were in trouble. In Turkish regions, poverty rates among children were high, with around 40 per cent of families below the poverty line, compared to 32 per cent nationwide. Estimates show that without local and international support, including money transfers and ensuring access to education, this figure could exceed 50 per cent.

The children. Vulnerable children in the hardest-hit areas are currently exposed to threats including violence, forced marriage or labour, and dropping out of school. The education of nearly four million minors enrolled in school has been disrupted. These figures also include more than 350,000 refugee and migrant children. In Syria, however, children were already suffering the consequences of twelve years of protracted conflict, which destroyed all infrastructure and public services. The massive aftershocks in February exacerbated the situation, causing further damage to schools, health services and other essential infrastructure. In particular, the damage to water and sewage systems has exposed 6.5 million people to the risk of contracting waterborne diseases, including cholera, which has returned to strike.

Malnutrition. According to the UNICEF report, about 51,000 children under the age of five, between Syria and Turkey, suffer from moderate or severe acute malnutrition and about 76,000 pregnant or already breastfeeding women need urgent treatment against acute malnutrition. Almost two million children have stopped going to school and many school facilities, 100 days after the earthquake, are still used as shelters for displaced people.

The effects of malnutrition. Stunting due to malnutrition affects children’s entire lives, both physically and mentally, and makes them more susceptible to infections. Malnourished pregnant women are at a higher risk of miscarriages, anemia and even death during childbirth, while their babies can be born prematurely and, if they survive, have stunted growth.

The risk of being abused. The road to recovery is long and families need ongoing support. The long-term impacts of the disaster, including rising food and energy prices, along with the loss of livelihoods and access to services, are already driving hundreds of thousands of children into poverty. And when children live in conditions of poverty – the organization points out – they are much more exposed to violence, exploitation and abuse.

The World Bank. The latest damage assessment by the World Bank found that the Syrian economy is expected to contract by at least 5.5 percent in the aftermath of the earthquake and throughout 2023. Some commodities such as bread have increased by more than 20 percent , while onions have become so expensive that they are now considered a luxury item. These are even more worrying data – he writes Save the Children – if we consider that today the average salary in Syria covers only a quarter of a family’s food needs.