Uclg’s Call for Solidarity about Earthquakes Affecting Türkiye and Syria

24.02.2023

On 6 February 2023, two huge earthquakes with magnitude 7,7 and 7,6 hit Pazarcık
district of Kahramanmaraş, Türkiye and affected a large geography covering ten
countries. 25 million people have been directly affected by earthquakes and
aftershocks in Türkiye and Syria, the two countries that have been damaged the
most.

These earthquakes causing massive destruction have affected 13.5 million people
living in Türkiye, and in the most affected areas of the country, 45 thousand people
have lost their lives, 130 thousand buildings have collapsed and millions of people
have had to leave the cities they lived in. In Syria, almost ten thousand people lost
their lives and nearly 4 million people have lost their homes.

The UCLG family shares the sorrow of millions of people who live in Türkiye and
Syria. As the largest local government organization representing thousands of local
and regional governments, we stand in solidarity with our members in the region.
Taking the losses caused into consideration, we are releasing this declaration in
solidarity with the cities affected by the earthquakes and to support them in the
rebuilding process. We, as UCLG family, promise to do everything within our power
to help support those who have been deeply affected by the disasters. In this
regard, we believe that all the resources should be mobilized to provide the
financial, technical and humanitarian needs to rebuild these cities.

The leadership and participation of local governments is vital for us during the
rebuilding process of the cities affected by the earthquakes. Therefore, we will
support local governments in the preparation and implementation of recovery plans,
and call for coordinated multilevel action in the response to the crisis to ensure we
rebuild safer, more durable and more environmentally friendly cities.

We believe that serious efforts should be made to reduce the risk of earthquakes
and to enhance disaster management to not suffer the consequences caused by
such disasters again. In this context, we will continue developing our resilience
agenda in order to be prepared for emergencies and reduce the risks.

We commit to supporting decentralized cooperation and peer-to-peer collaboration,
in particular through coordinated efforts such as our Solidarity Fund, to rebuild the
cities that were affected. As UCLG would like to share our deepest sympathies and
strength to those affected by the crisis, and would like to extend our most heartfelt
condolences to the family and friends of the deceased.