Today's top news: Türkiye, Syria, Burkina Faso

Türkiye and Syria

The number of casualties in both Türkiye and Syria continues to rise, with people still trapped under the rubble.

The first UN convoy since the earthquake crossed from Türkiye into north-west Syria through Bab al Hawa crossing today, at noon local time. It included six trucks carrying shelter items and non-food kits from the International Organization for Migration.

The UN is helping mobilize emergency teams and relief operations. At least 108 UN-classified and other International Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) Teams, consisting of 6,479 search and rescue personnel, supported by 212 search dogs have deployed, and are working in the earthquake affected area of Türkiye. Another 60 International USAR Teams are on their way. At the Government’s request two UN Disaster and Assessment Coordination Teams with a total of 50 members have been deployed to Gaziantep and to four hubs in the affected area to support the coordination of USAR operations. An UNDAC liaison Team deployed to Türkiye’s Disaster and Emergency Management Ministry (AFAD), who are leading the response, has also been established in Ankara. A separate UNDAC team is on its way to Syria to support the response there.

In Syria, including the north-west, urgent funding is needed to provide shelter, health, nutrition, water, sanitation, hygiene, education, protection and psychosocial support services that are no doubt critical in this phase of the response across Syria.

As the Secretary General said, the humanitarian response – the Syria Humanitarian Fund and the Syria Cross-border Humanitarian Fund – need an urgent injection of support. They are the best options to enable the UN and its humanitarian partners to rapidly respond to people in need.

Burkina Faso

Two staff members of an international NGO were killed on February 8th morning when their vehicle clearly identified as belonging to the aid organization was shot at by armed men in the Boucle du Mouhoun region of northwestern Burkina Faso. Both staff members were Burkinabé.

The vehicle was carrying a four-person medical team, the two other team members managed to escape. The two killed aid workers had been employed by the INGO as a driver and a logistics supervisor respectively. The INGO has temporarily suspended its activities in the Boucle du Mouhoun region.

While condemning the killing, the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator a.i. in Burkina Faso, Mr Abdouraouf Gnon-Konde, called it not only a violation of international humanitarian law, but also an attack on the rights and well-being of the children, women, and men who depend on aid to survive.

Burkina Faso continues to face the worst humanitarian crisis in its history, with 4.7 million people – nearly one in four Burkinabé - are now in need of humanitarian assistance, including 1.9 million internally displaced people.