“One month on since the devastating earthquake hit Türkiye and Syria, the scale of the humanitarian response has yet to meet the enormous needs of displaced Syrian families and children (631)_____have suffered from compounded crises for almost 12 years now,” said Johan Mooij, director of World Vision’s Syria crisis response. “It is crucial that (632)_____ access channels to northwest Syria remain open, and that aid deliveries are scaled up through earmarked funding for the emergency response. Only this will ensure that children’s mental health needs are covered, and their trauma addressed.”

Snow and bitter winter weather have placed children at great risk of hypothermia (633)_____ they struggle to survive in sub-zero temperatures. Many survivors have had to sleep in cars, outside, or in makeshift shelters. Doctors (634)_____ that children are also at risk of exposure to waterborne diseases such as cholera or Hepatitis A due to the damage to shelters and water infrastructure.

These children are now even more vulnerable to family separation, exploitation, and abuse. As buildings are deemed unsafe, they also are unable to return to school.

“In northern Syria, in particular, the threats to children from abuse were already extreme. The soaring poverty, within a warzone, now devastated by earthquakes, has created an unimaginable number of challenges, and suffering for children,” says Johan, director of the Syria crisis response in Amman, Jordan. “This earthquake has created the perfect environment for a health crisis -fueled by reduced healthcare capacity and disease (635)_____.”

“One month on since the devastating earthquake hit Türkiye and Syria, the scale of the humanitarian response has yet to meet the enormous needs of displaced Syrian families and children (631)_____have suffered from compounded crises for almost 12 years now,”