Gaziantep, Türkiye – In an effort to address the continuing needs of the most earthquake-affected communities in Türkiye, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the European Union (EU) have launched the project “Evidence-based humanitarian response to people affected by earthquakes in Kahramanmaras and Hatay provinces of Türkiye”.

Out of 11 earthquake-ravaged provinces, Kahramanmaras and Hatay are among the most affected, with widespread destruction of homes and infrastructure hindering access to basic water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services.

Underscoring the urgency and scale of aid required, the six-month intervention aims to provide integrated protection and WASH services in the two provinces, using a data-driven approach to inform decisions.

In coordination with government authorities and humanitarian partners, IOM will assess the needs and vulnerabilities* of families residing in informal settlements who have been unable to return to their now heavily damaged or completely destroyed homes.

According to the last available data, nearly 1.5 million affected people are living in such informal sites across 1300 neighbourhoods. IOM will provide regular updates to other humanitarian partners on the locations and needs of sites to ensure assistance reaches the people most in need. Based on the assessment findings, over 10,000 unique beneficiaries from both local and migrant communities, including persons with disabilities, will be referred to humanitarian partners for service provision, including IOM.

To ensure that data is collected in line with protection principles, IOM is planning a series of protection mainstreaming trainings for enumerators operating in the targeted provinces.

The project also aims to strengthen the provision of safe and clean water, improve sanitation facilities including mobile laundry services, distribute non-food items, as well as enhance the health and well-being of affected populations in informal sites through hygiene promotion activities.

"The summer temperatures in the earthquake-affected Southeast region pose an additional challenge to uninterrupted access to clean water and WASH facilities and added risks to public health,” highlighted Claudia Natali, IOM Türkiye's Deputy Chief of Mission. “This generous support from the EU is timely, allowing us to strengthen our efforts and build on our work since the onset of the earthquake."

Devrig Velly, head of the EU humanitarian aid office in Türkiye, expressed the European Union’s commitment: "We support IOM in providing essential aid to earthquake-affected communities in Türkiye. Beyond the immediate relief, this joint project complements ongoing activities in all affected provinces and aims to have a lasting impact. Together, we can make a significant difference in their journey towards recovery and rebuilding."

As co-lead of the Temporary Settlement Support (TSS) Sector**, IOM remains committed to supporting the Turkish Government's earthquake response and will continue to work closely with national and local partners to ensure the timely delivery of assistance to those in need.

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For more information, please contact:

In Gaziantep – Olga Borzenkova, Communications Officer, oborzenkova@iom.int

In Ankara – Miko Alazas, Media and Communications Officer, aalazas@iom.int

Background information:

*IOM Türkiye’s data collection activities, through its Migrant Presence Monitoring (MPM) programme, has been coordinated jointly with the Presidency of Migration Management (PMM) since 2016, which is the leading national agency working on migration issues in Türkiye. The methodology and operational implementation of the MPM programme activities are based on IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) model, which seeks to improve information management capacities and aims to ensure that information and data on migrant/refugee presence and flows are collected and corroborated in accordance with the established procedures.

**The Temporary Settlements Support (TSS) Sector is the Türkiye country-specific version of the Global Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) Cluster. The United Nations has activated its Sector system in response to the earthquakes, with the TSS Sector being led by IOM within the humanitarian Inter-Sector Coordination Group (ISCG). Currently, the ISCG sits in Gaziantep, with hubs across Adiyaman, Hatay, Kahramanaras and Malatya supporting field-level response. The TSS Sector’s main objective is to represent displaced people in temporary settlements and other collective displacement settings, including out-of-camp and informal settings, and ensure fair and dignified access to assistance, information, and protection for as long as necessary. The TSS sector supports information sharing, coordination, reporting and advocacy, ensuring that, at the ISCG, updates and relevant priorities and gaps identified at the field level are translated into inter-sector strategies and plans.