UNDP Turkey delivered personal protective equipment, hygiene and cleaning products to Gaziantep, Kilis, Şanlıurfa and Hatay Municipalities to be used in their fight against the Coronavirus pandemic. The donation worth 200 thousand dollars, was delivered under UNDP’s Turkey Resilience Project in Response to the Syria Crisis (TRP), Municipal Service Delivery Component, which is financed by the European Union (EU) and implemented in cooperation with Turkey’s local development bank, İlbank. The project aims to strengthen the resilience of the municipalities in Turkey’s Southeast regions, where cities are under stress due to sudden population increase with the ongoing Syria crisis. 

With its EU funded project, UNDP Turkey delivered personal protective equipment, hygiene and cleaning products to four municipalities in Turkey’s Southeast regions bordering Syria, to support the struggle against the pandemic. 200,000 medical facemasks, 6,000 respirator, 4,000 face-shelters, 4,000 disposable medical suits, 2 tonnes surface, 4 tonnes hand disinfectant, 160 tonnes bleach and 40,000 hygienic wipes were expedited to Gaziantep, Kilis, Şanlıurfa and Hatay Municipalities. The last support by the UNDP comes timely as the South-eastern municipalities in Turkey are struggling in COVID-19 context, with their already-strained service capacities while hosting a large refugee population.     

A mini ceremony was convened in Gaziantep province with the representatives of Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality and UNDP Turkey, before the load takes off to project provinces. In a statement at the delivery ceremony, Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality’s Women, Family, Education and Social Services Department Head, Dr. M. Abdullah Aksoy extended gratitude to UNDP Turkey and to the EU, who also supports municipalities in their fight against the Coronavirus pandemic. “Now thanks to our cooperation with the UNDP and EU in Gaziantep province, these protective equipment, medical and hygiene supplies will support us in our fight against the Coronavirus pandemic” he said, underlining the quick and effective response and support by UNDP Turkey in COVID-19 context.

Dr. Aksoy stated that the humanity is fighting a war with a global pandemic and it can succeed only through solidarity and cooperation. Referring to the importance of Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality’s ongoing cooperation with the UNDP under Turkey Resilience Project in Response to the Syria Crisis (TRP), he added “With our current cooperation with UNDP Turkey, very important investments in municipal infrastructure were realized in our province, including waste management, waste disposal, treatment, recycle and firefighting services. With UNDP’s and EU’s support, we are extending municipal services in Gaziantep to both our compatriots and the Syrians living in our province”. 

Ersin Dağdur, Projects Coordinator managing Municipal Service Delivery Component at UNDP Turkey’s Syria Crisis Response and Resilience Portfolio, underlined in his speech that Gaziantep, is a growing city with rapid population increase due to Syria crisis. “As the city’s population grew in a short period of time, so did the needs, especially in municipal services” said Dağdur. Emphasizing that the UNDP has been working with Hatay, Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa and Kilis Municipalities in strengthening municipal services in the region against the negative impact of the ongoing Syria crisis on their city infrastructures, Dağdur said “Together with our partner, İlbank and EU funding, we managed to realize in these four cities important investments in municipal and environmental infrastructure, including waste and wastewater treatment. We delivered modern first response and emergency intervention vehicles with related equipment, to develop firefighting capacities of the municipalities. Now with personal protective equipment, hygiene and cleaning products delivery, we also support these municipalities’ efforts in their fight with the pandemic” he said.    

Trucks loaded with 200,000 medical facemasks, 6,000 respirator, 4,000 face-shelters, 4,000 disposable medical suits, 2 tonnes surface, 4 tonnes hand disinfectant, 160 tonnes bleach and 40,000 hygienic wipes were departed after the ceremony to deliver the COVID-19 support to Gaziantep, Kilis, Şanlıurfa and Hatay Municipalities.

UNDP is the only UN agency in Turkey, providing direct support to municipalities in municipal services including waste and wastewater management, physical infrastructure development and technical assistance. UNDP support through various projects to date has primarily focused on providing equipment and developing service capacities and infrastructure. The project expands the efforts, through covering new municipalities with high Syrian population, to improve municipal services in the face of rising demand, to enhance municipal service delivery capacities and provide technical assistance at a larger scale. With these investments, it is expected that both host community members and Syrian refugees to benefit from municipal service delivery, and live in clean, healthy cities and to enhance social cohesion.