In a humanitarian crisis, women and girls are still, always, the hardest hit. No response should be gender blind: Women and girls have to be put first. Here’s why.
More than 9 million people in Türkiye and 8.8 million in Syria affected by two massive earthquakes. Among them, over 260,000 pregnant women in both countries – women who need vital, immediate access to health services in structures that are no longer standing, amid rubble that used to be roads.
In Syria, the earthquakes only deepened entrenched suffering from 12 years of conflict that have left 90 per cent of Syrians destitute and forced half the population from their homes, most of them women and children – many taking refuge in Türkiye.
In a humanitarian crisis, women and girls are still, always, the hardest hit and no response should be gender blind: Women and girls have to be put first.
Here’s why.
Crises can mean life or death for pregnant women
In crisis and disaster settings, maternal deaths can rise dramatically from complications that would be easily managed in settings where health systems were functioning.
There are an estimated 133,000 pregnant women in affected areas of Syria, around 44,000 of whom will deliver in the next three months. In the ruins of the region’s worst natural disaster in recent history, they must rely on a health system bludgeoned by over a decade of bombardments, economic chaos and near total lack of supplies or staff.
In Turkey, more than 14,000 of the 130,000 pregnant women directly affected by the earthquakes will deliver within a month. Nearly the entire health infrastructure in the most affected areas has been damaged or destroyed – 70 per cent of family health centres are damaged and 60 per cent of maternal health and obstetric services are not operating, endangering tens of thousands of lives.
Disrupted sexual and reproductive health access could trigger a secondary disaster
Over 100 health facilities in Türkiye and more than 170 in Syria have been destroyed or damaged, including at least seven hospitals. This puts at immediate and longer-term risk the health of some 2.2 million women and girls of reproductive age in Syria and 2.4 million in Türkiye, all of whom need the sexual and reproductive health care of their choice.
Without contraceptive supplies or access to them, unintended pregnancies will spike, as could sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. Other diseases could more easily spread too, such as COVID-19 and influenza and pre-existing outbreaks of cholera, hepatitis A and measles in Syria.
Gender-based violence protection needs soar just as services shutter
In a crisis, women and girls are also at much greater risk of violence and abuse, while social security and protection services break down and health facilities collapse.
They are facing acute protection risks, including a greater risk of gender-based violence, exploitation and abuse, and violations such as child and forced marriage – all of which have become increasingly ‘normalized’ during Syria’s protracted crisis.
Millions of survivors are meanwhile enduring terrible trauma and need access to mental health and psychosocial support.
Displacement takes a severe physical, mental and social toll
Over 100,000 households have reportedly been displaced by the earthquakes, although the true number is likely much higher. Many people are staying with host communities or returning to unsafe, uninhabitable homes; many more are living on the streets or in refuges, unable to rebuild their houses or livelihoods.
Syria already has the largest number of internally displaced people in the world at 6.8 million, with the same number having fled for neighbouring countries. People forced from their homes by war, disease outbreaks and financial ruin were later met with droughts and floods that destroyed what remained of their livelihoods. With this latest disaster, millions more are facing the trauma of involuntary migration once again.
Almost half of them are women and girls, grappling with homelessness, discrimination, poverty and escalating risks of exploitation and abuse.
Now more than ever, solidarity and financial support must be provided
Millions of women and girls are still not receiving the support they desperately need. In Türkiye, UNFPA is appealing for $19.7 million to scale up the delivery of reproductive health and protection services. To date the appeal is 39 per cent funded. In Syria, UNFPA is appealing for $24.8 million, of which we have received only a third. We cannot forget that the earthquakes have exacerbated the pre-existing crisis in Syria, for which UNFPA is also appealing for $141.2 million. As the European Union and Sweden host an international donors’ conference to secure financial contributions following the earthquakes, we urge a show of solidarity to ensure this arrives without delay – the women and girls of Syria and Turkey deserve all the support we can give them.
Source: UNFPA