10 + 1 facts about emergency aid

Emergency aid: 10 + 1 facts 

Emergency aid is for the direst of situations. When a sudden natural disaster strikes or a country enters a protracted crisis, lives can be protected and human dignity preserved through global cooperation between organisations.  

1. Emergency aid is a lifesaver. 

When a disaster strikes, rapid aid delivery is often a literal matter of life and death. In line with the principles of humanitarianism, emergency aid is intended for those who need it the most, its purpose saving lives and preserving human dignity. In most cases, aid consists of water, food, shelter, and medicines – the basic necesssities. Education can save lives too and is thus at the heart of what FCA does. 

2. Locations are selected based on the situation and the need. 

The need for emergency aid may arise suddenly or result from a protracted crisis. Whatever the case, the local organizations and those international organizations already on the ground will endeavour to supply aid as rapidly as they can. The UN’s Emergency Relief Coordination Agency (OCHA) monitors the global situation and maps out potential cases, allowing the international community to correctly locate find  situations and people who need aid, and schedule the aid correctly. In case of natural disasters, for example, comprehensive assessment is usually completed within weeks. The plan of action always evolves with the situation, however. 

3. Aid comes in many forms. 

The above assessment can determine the most acute requirements for aid and the most appropriate ways to provide it. When a functioning market continues to exist in the disaster area, for example, cash grants are better and more cost-effective than goods. If no market exists, though, direct donations of goods may be necessary. We always endeavour to source the goods from the vicinity of the crisis area. Listening to the community is crucial: families, for example, often want their children’s education to continue as soon as the basic needs for survival have been met. 

4. Coordination through cooperation. 

No organisation can be everywhere simultaneously. During major catastrophes, coordination within the international community is a crucial element. Organizations involve themselves based on their specific expertise and area knowledge. FCA often takes part in training efforts and leads related cooperation projects. Global coordination of aid allows everyone to track what aid is available, where it is and who is getting it. It can also help in identifying areas still without aid and missing categories of aid.  

5. Politics can complicate humanitarianism. 

Conflicts and political disputes hamper the delivery of emergency aid. The UN has thus passed a resolution calling for sanctions to be enacted in a way that does not block humanitarian aid. A host of problems may arise from closing banks or blocking money transfers due to sanctions. And things like roadblocks can also physically prevent the aid from reaching its destination in its destination. 

6. Does “all the money just go to the warlords?” No. 

Aid organizations are professional institutions. They closely monitor the use of their funds and the related cash flows and apply anti-corruption measures to their own activities, as well as those of partners and subcontractors. In many fragile countries, corruption is an ever-present problem. This also affects the humanitarian aid sector, and corruption cases are uncovered from time to time. However, the discovery of misuse also serves as a sign that the controls are working. 

7. It’s not always possible to deliver aid. 

Aid agencies, which often work in difficult circumstances, have prepared for a wide range of situations and threats. However, sometimes the situation can be so life-threatening that sending personnel to a given situation simply isn’t safe. Various armed groups in conflict zones increasingly view aid workers as a target, and problems also arise, for example, when authorities insist on distributing aid to their favoured recipients or demand that some of the supplies are given to soldiers. Even in these situations, organisations constantly negotiate to ensure that aid is distributed following the principles of humanitarian aid. 

8. FCA’s disaster relief fund prepares for the unexpected. 

Finn Church Aid not only raises funds for individual crises, but also maintains an ongoing collection for conflicts in general. Our disaster relief fund enables us to respond to acute emergencies. Money can be immediately released when funds are needed quickly and in a flexible manner. It can also help in situations that do not mobilise donors straight away in large numbers. 

9. Emergency aid is needed both for acute disasters and long-term crises. 

The need for emergency aid can be triggered by an acute disaster, such as an outbreak of war or a sudden natural disaster, or by a protracted, escalating crisis, such as a famine-inducing drought. Slow-onset disasters are often more complex and thus much more expensive to deal with, but they do not usually attract donor attention on the same scale as, for example, a sudden earthquake. The criteria for supplying emergency aid are nevertheless always the same: those who need aid shall receive it. 

10. Not every crisis is in the news. 

The media is not always the best barometer for need of aid. For example, while it is understandable that the war in Ukraine features heavily in the headlines, many other protracted situations, such as the prolonged drought in East Africa, have been overshadowed by the events of the day. A crisis must usually ferment for a long time before it catches media attention. A famine being declared, for example, is more likely to feature in the news than the threat of a famine. 

+1. Local actors are in a key role for a successful FCA response. 

People from and living in the affected area are the best guides to their own environment and networks. We do not believe it is sufficient for local staff and partners to purely offer advice and implementation for our decisions; they must also be involved in the decision-making process. FCA country offices are run by national staff, and in many aid areas, FCA works with or supports local partner organisations. 

Sources: interviews with Merja Färm, FCA’s humanitarian advocacy expert, and Jan De Waegemaeker, humanitarian aid expert. 

Text: Anne Salomäki
Translation to English: Tatu Ahponen
Illustration: Carla Ladau

Returnees to Syria compound challenging disaster response effort

Returnees to Syria compound challenging disaster response effort – FCA is supporting the survivors of the Syria earthquake with warm clothes and cash distributions

Syrian families who lost their homes in the recent earthquake have already spent weeks in temporary shelters. FCA is responding to the most urgent needs, while also continuing essential school rehabilitation work.

FINN CHURCH AID’S(FCA) emergency aid distributions in Syria are in full operation with 4,000 adults and children in the Aleppo area reached by mid-March. Families who lost their homes in the devastating earthquake received warm winter clothes and hygiene items. 

“We received the aid packages just in time. The classrooms are cold. We don’t have enough clothes or mattresses for my children to feel warm,” described a mother in Aleppo, who received aid at the end of February. 

The family are currently living in emergency accommodation at a local school. 

The series of earthquakes that started on February 6, 2023 caused enormous destruction not only in Turkey but also in Syria, where the humanitarian situation was already difficult due to the 12-year war.

Lia Mohamad al-Hayek was born on February 6, the same day that the earthquake shook Syria and Turkey. Lia has spent the first weeks of her life in emergency accommodation together with her mother, father and two siblings. In the photo, Lia is in the arms of Anadel, an FCA employee.

The earthquakes killed at least 6,000 people in Syria. According to estimates, more than 100,000 families have had to leave their homes. 

Around 50,000 families are living in temporary shelters and with local families in in Aleppo, Hama, Homs and Latakia where FCA is active. The situation is the most severe in Aleppo and Latakia.

Life is cramped in emergency accommodation

Karam Sharouf, FCA’s Syria program manager, has spent a lot of time on the ground in Aleppo. He says that five weeks after the earthquake, the conditions are still extremely difficult. 
 
“There is a huge lack of resources in international aid to Syria. We need more funding,” says Sharouf. 

In Syria, the humanitarian situation is also challenging  because the regional resources, for example in terms of education and healthcare, have long been insufficient. When fighting subsided, people started to return to their homes. In short, the earthquake got people moving again and this brings with it increased demand for support.  
 
“Many Syrians who fled the war to Turkey have now returned to the Aleppo region. There have been Syrian refugees in Turkey in Kahramanmaraş and Antakya. Their homes were destroyed. According to estimates, there have been tens of thousands of returnees to Syria after the earthquake,” Sharouf describes. 
 
Families who have lost their homes live in cramped emergency accommodation in Syria. Families sleep side by side on mattresses pushed together on the floor. There is no privacy. It’s not always possible for the female population to have their own toilets and washing facilities in the shelter. 
 
“More than 60 people could be staying in one room,” Sharouf describes. 

Lapsia ja aikuisia istuu lattialla. Pieni lapsi istuu pyörätuolissa ja pitele tuttipulloa.

Ward (right) from FCA talks to a family in emergency accommodation in Aleppo. The family lost their home and have no savings to rent a new home. The mother is expecting her fourth child, and the wheelchair serves as a stroller for the youngest in the family.

Cash assistance helps those who have lost their livelihood

FCA has so far granted a total of 400,000 euros from its disaster fund to help earthquake victims in the Aleppo region and western Syria. Supplies are still being distributed. 

The families will soon also receive cash assistance from FCA. With the help of cash, families can buy the things they need: for example, food, clothes or hygiene items. 

“A large number of people have lost their means of livelihood. We support 350 families in Aleppo and Latakia with cash distributions,” says Sharouf.

kaksi pientä tyttöä kävelee käytävällä. He pitelevät toisiaan kädestä ja hymyilevät.
6-year-olds Fatema al-Asi and Masah Jaber met in a shelter organized for earthquake survivors in Latakia. They are from different neighborhoods but ended up in the same shelter. The girls say they play a game where they walk down the road to the store to buy candy.

Young people do not see their future in Syria

Millions of people in Syria were in need of humanitarian aid even before the earthquake. One humanitarian disaster after another has made life difficult. According to Sharouf, Syrians are really frustrated. 
 
“Young people are now trying to travel abroad to get a future for themselves. There is no solution to the war, the economic situation is getting worse, and people don’t have jobs. In addition, health care and the school system are in a weak state”, he says. 
 
FCA‘s work in Syria has for years focused not only on meeting the basic needs of people living in difficult situations, but also on supporting the country’s education sector. 
 
We rehabilitated schools damaged during the war and train teachers in addition to organising. remedial education and extracurricular activities for children. Our work also focuses on psychosocial support, the needs of which have increased in the aftermath of the earthquake. 
 
In 2023, FCA will perform rehabilitation work in up to 77 Syrian schools which have suffered damage during the war and earthquake. 

Text: Ulriikka Myöhänen
Photos: FCA Syria Country Office

More information and contacts for journalists:

FCA Country Director for Syria, Mazen Khzouz (English and Arabic), mazen.khzouz@kua.fi

FCA Executive Director, Tomi Järvinen (English and Finnish), tomi.jarvinen@kua.fi, tel. +358(0)40 641 8209

FCA Manager of International Communications (English), Ruth Owen, ruth.owen@kua.fi, tel. +358(0)504097848