Volunteers play a life-saving role in the earthquake response

TOG volunteers coordinate operations at a storage unit in Hatay. Photo: Courtesy of TOG

When earthquakes hit southeastern Turkey on February 6, the Community Volunteers Foundation immediately deployed its volunteers to storage units in the earthquake zones to sort, stock and distribute urgent supplies to survivors. The volunteers have played a life-saving role in the response by ensuring that women and girls get the help and support they need.

Volunteers play an essential role in responding to disasters and emergencies, supporting the immediate needs of survivors, assisting public organizations in providing services, and assisting survivors in need of care and support. After earthquakes hit 11 provinces in southeastern Turkey on February 6th, thousands of volunteers were deployed to disaster areas to assist public institutions and help survivors who lost their homes and loved ones in the devastating earthquakes.

The Community Volunteer Foundation (TOG, for short in Turkish), one of UN Women’s civil society partners, has worked tirelessly with more than 800 volunteers, half of them women, on the ground over the past month.

Immediately after the earthquakes, people, national and local institutions, civil society organizations and private companies from all over the country began to send aid parcels, blankets and foodstuffs to the earthquake areas. The huge amount of assistance required the support of volunteers.

Coming from all over the country, TOG volunteers, including earthquake survivors, were there to help. In coordination with public authorities, they sorted, stored and delivered these materials to survivors, including women and girls, from day one.

“The variety of humanitarian supplies changes every day. One day, a truckload of hygiene products and sanitary pads arrived; the other day there were none. So, our work as pivotal people in the storage units is to sort, pack and deliver the immediate needs of the survivors,” says Rana Kara, 27, from Istanbul, a TOG training expert.

After working in one of the storage units in Hatay, Kara explains how the system works: “We sort and store the items, prepare aid packages according to the list of requirements shared by the local authorities in the area and send them to the tent settlements.”

Zilan Aydın, 23, has been a TOG volunteer for the past five years. She was in her hometown of Antalya, when the earthquakes hit and soon after spread to the region. She is assigned to a storage unit in Hatay to coordinate the aid and to set up the operation: “People come to the storage units to pick up the items they need. Often, men come and get these things for their families. Because of gender stereotypes and traditional values, men sometimes don’t know how to Asking for sanitary pads, or asking if their wives and daughters use the same type of sanitary pads. Therefore, we decided to put sanitary pads and nappies in all the aid boxes that we prepare for families.”

Aydin, who studies dentistry, shares her experiences and observations on the ground: “As a health professional, I see many pregnant women say they are bleeding, and have a risk of miscarriage. I also attest that women tend to prioritize the needs of their babies first; they want to take diapers and milk.” children and put their needs second.”

Dilay Duman, 34, has been a TOG volunteer for more than 15 years. She is currently working for a civil society organization in Mersin, southern Turkey. Right after the earthquakes, she deployed to her hometown of Hatay as a volunteer. It is very difficult, she says, to be a volunteer in times of disaster: “During disasters, you need to organize faster, be able to make decisions in a changing environment, and be more careful than ever while taking initiatives. As volunteers, we need to acknowledge our weaknesses.” People, including women, and we should be supportive in any case.”

Hazal Günel, Gender Program Specialist at TOG, says female volunteers play a life-saving role in the earthquake response: “Volunteers can ensure that the different needs and priorities of women and girls are met. Their presence provides a gender perspective at all levels of the humanitarian response. This is why we published Particularly volunteers. We believe that female volunteers make a valuable contribution to helping women in difficulty in earthquake zones.”

Günel says that the volunteers are assigned to seven different storage units in Hatay, Adıyaman and Kahramanmaraş, which are the cities most affected by the earthquakes. “Volunteers are deployed to work on the ground for a maximum of 5 days due to their safety and the risk of secondary trauma. Their mental and physical health is essential to the sustainability of volunteering on the ground.”

The Foundation for Community Volunteers (TOG) works with young people and encourages them to participate in social responsibility projects as volunteers. The Foundation is a partner organization of UN Women and implements a training program for volunteers within a “Strong Civic Space for Gender Equality”, funded by the European Union.

If you would like to support the efforts of UN Women in the earthquake zone in Turkey and Syria and help women and girls and their families in urgent need, please donate here.

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