Syria-Türkiye Solidarity Fund
The recent earthquakes in Syria and Türkiye have devastated both countries, leaving nearly 40,000 people dead, 80,104 injured in Türkiye and 8,551 from Northwest Syria, and many more displaced. The back-to-back quakes which spread across a 100-kilometre radius just hours apart have affected some 20 million people in the region, including 7.2 million (2 million severely) in already war-torn Northwest Syria and 13.5 million in Türkiye.
But the effects of the earthquake go far beyond the immediate impacts. Many people in these communities now face long-term challenges, including disrupted livelihoods and economic recovery. For the people of Syria, who have already faced so much hardship in the 12-year civil war, the earthquake has only added to their struggles.
The Syria-Türkiye Solidarity Fund is committed to making a difference, helping these communities survive, recover, and rebuild.
Teams from Syrian youth based organisation Violet clearing rubble after the earthquakes.
The Fund Mechanism
The Solidarity Fund is a locally-rooted, agile and responsive mechanism designed to provide rapid and effective support to communities affected by the earthquake in Syria and Türkiye. The Fund is partnering with the Syrian Networks League (SNL) to leverage local expertise, presence and reach to provide targeted assistance to those in need.
In its initial phase, the Fund will leverage philanthropic funding while building the infrastructure for individual giving, particularly from the Global South. There will be specific campaigns to leverage various forms of giving, such as charitable giving from Zakat and Sadaqah.
The Fund will prioritise funding proposals from local organisations and initiatives that are able to respond to the needs of the affected communities quickly and effectively.
The criteria for funding will be continuously reviewed and revised based on the input of stakeholders, with a focus on ensuring that resources are directed to those who need them the most.
Through its partnership with the Syrian Networks League, the Fund will ensure that resources are effectively channelled to those most in need, particularly those difficult to reach through traditional aid channels.
The grant-making will be modelled along the NEAR Change Fund, applying the lessons from the peer-to-peer mechanism while ensuring adherence to the contextual reality in Syria and Türkiye.
We recognise that affected communities will feel the impact of this crisis for some time and that the needs will evolve over time as well.
The Solidarity Fund will be an iterative process, continuously learning and adjusting its focus to support the most pressing needs of these communities over time. By investing in local organisations and infrastructure, the Fund can be a long-term source of support for these communities.
Our goal is to leverage resources in a way that is efficient, effective, and locally rooted, with a focus on empowering affected communities to be part of the recovery process.
We believe that this approach will ensure that the Fund is responsive, accountable, and sustainable and that it will have a lasting impact on the communities our members serve.