Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 9th May. According to a new UN assessment report launched on Monday in Beirut stated that Syria needs $15 billion to recover after the devastating earthquakes which hit both Syria and Turkiye.
El-Mostafa Benlamlih, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria who led the recovery effort with the UN Country Team said that the Syria Earthquake Recovery Needs Assessment puts the total damages and losses at almost $9 billion.
Mr. Benlamlih said that “The UN has been working tirelessly to respond to the series of powerful earthquakes that hit Türkiye and Syria in February 2023, and is dedicated to working with both local authorities and the international community to improve our coordinated response and identify recovery priorities to help affected communities recover from the disaster.”
The report assessed the earthquakes’ impact on 38 sub-districts across 5 governorates of the country with a collaborative effort included 11 UN agencies, funds and programmes working in Syria.
The assessment highlighted key damage and losses estimates across sectors and governorates, recovery, and disaster risk reduction priorities and implications for disaster resilient early recovery across Syria.
It provided details on the extent of the losses and recovery needs caused by the earthquake to an frail infrastructure and services across Syria as a result of 12 years of conflict.
Mr. Benlamlih warned that in the absence of recovery “we can expect the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance to rise significantly by 2024”.
UN said that it is one of the biggest disasters to impact the region in recent times, thousands of people were killed and many injured, with thousands of collapsed buildings left countless people exposed to winter conditions.
The earthquakes hit as the humanitarian crisis in northwest Syria was at the highest level since the conflict began, with 4.1 million people depends on humanitarian assistance to survive.
