Kuwait, Saudi Among Top Donors to Turkey Earthquake Relief
Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are among the top five donors so far to the UN fund for relief work in Turkey after the earthquake that killed more than 55,000 people.
Donors have so far contributed $268 million to the $1 billion flash appeal issued by the UN after the 7.8-magnitude quake on February 6 and its aftershocks that devastated areas of south-east Turkey and parts of war-torn Syria
The UN humanitarian agency’s spokesman, Jens Laerke, told reporters in Geneva on Friday that the initial emergency phase of the assistance programme had ended. “Now we are involved in the humanitarian emergency phase, where we look at what the survivors need,” he said.
On February 16, the UN launched an appeal for $1 billion to help more than five million people in Turkey during the first three months after the quake.
The US, Kuwait, the European Commission, the UN’s emergency fund CERF and Saudi Arabia are currently the top five donors.
