H2H Network strengthens the humanitarian response to the Türkiye-Syria earthquake

The H2H Network has activated its fund to strengthen the humanitarian response to the earthquakes that hit southeast Türkiye and northwest Syria in February 2023. The funds will enable network members to address key gaps in the response, supporting engineers in reconstruction, resilient healthcare systems, data on the communication and engagement ecosystem, quality and accountability standards, and information on the needs of affected communities. Services are freely available to all responders as part of the funded package, and project activities will be completed by August 2023.

The H2H Network’s Executive Director Kim Scriven said, “The H2H Network has a key role in supporting the humanitarian response in Türkiye and Syria with their technical expertise and services. Many H2H organizations have been providing essential services since the onset of the emergency, analyzing the humanitarian impact of the earthquakes and identifying priority needs. The allocation of additional resources will allow our members to continue their interventions during the second phase of the emergency, expanding to other critical areas of work such as community engagement, quality and accountability”.

Nine H2H Members will provide the following services to support the humanitarian response in Syria and Türkiye:

• RedR UKwill provide technical training and mentoring to local engineers in northwest Syria and Türkiye on how to conduct a structural assessment of damaged buildings;
• Field Ready will support healthcare facilities in northwest Syria by strengthening their ability to repair medical equipment and manufacture spare parts locally;
• The Communicating with Disaster Affected Communities (CDAC) Network,CLEAR Global and Insecurity Insight will provide technical support and resources to humanitarian actors in Türkiye and Syria on how to engage effectively with affected communities by using their preferred channels of communication, using appropriate language and terminology and by monitoring the perception of aid organizations in social medias;
• Diaspora Emergency Action and Coordination (DEMAC)will support the leadership of Syrian civil society and diaspora groups in coordinating the humanitarian response by providing technical and human resources to the Syrian NGO Alliance;
• The New Humanitarian will report on humanitarian issues in northwest Syria and will communicate the needs of affected communities by sharing their stories and amplifying their voices, to inform the humanitarian response;
• The Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) Alliance will provide clear and accessible information to humanitarian responders in Türkiye about delivering aid that meets quality and accountability standards, in line with the CHS Commitments;
• Ground Truth Solutions will assess and analyse how communities in Türkiye perceive issues of quality, fairness and equity in how aid is being delivered, thereby providing an independent mechanism for feedback and accountability.

With 51,000 people killed, close to 195,500 buildings damaged and 18 million people affected, the scale and impact of the earthquakes that hit Türkiye and Syria have overwhelmed national capacities and further exacerbated protracted complex emergencies. Many cross-cutting challenges must be addressed for the crisis response to meet the disastrous consequences. These needs include data and information for better decision making, support to civil society actors and diaspora groups who are leading the response, improving local capacities to assess damaged buildings and repair medical equipment. The response also lacks sufficient information about on communities’ preferences around communication and access to information, as well as independent mechanisms to ensure quality and accountability in the response.

The H2H Member’s independent, cross-cutting services are well-suited to address these gaps and challenges. The network brings together 58 independent specialized humanitarian service providers who enable efficient, effective and accountable aid during a crisis by facilitating and resourcing humanitarian-to-humanitarian (H2H) services for the wider system.

The H2H Fund is a funding mechanism for network members to activate service packages to improve humanitarian assistance efficiency and effectivity. Past service packages have been funded for Cyclone Idai in Mozambique, the Ebola epidemic in DR Congo, the security crisis in Burkina Faso, conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, Covid-19, the earthquake in Haiti, the humanitarian crisis in Tigray, Ethiopia, the drought in the Horn of Africa and the floods in Pakistan.

The H2H Network and its Fund are supported by UK aid - from the British people, USAID’s Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), the Swedish International Development Cooperation (SIDA) and the Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC). The funds supporting the H2H Network intervention in Türkiye and Syria are provided by UK aid and the DEC.

For more information: Service_Matrix_Türkiye__Syria.pdf (h2h-prod-website.s3.amazonaws.com)