Photo courtesy of Kyodo News
On 23 October 2011, a earthquake occurred in Van, Turkey. This earthquake killed 604 people and injured over 4,000 others. Given that most of the area's infrastructure was heavily damaged, a large proportion of 600,000 plus population has been left homeless. Half of those left homeless are children. Those who decided to stay reside in make shift refugee camps in the area.Earlier this week, the State of Kuwait donated $250,000 to UNICEF towards humanitarian efforts in response to this natural disaster. With children proving to be heavily effected by the earthquake, UNICEF has focused on education and child protection. UNICEF has established emergency schooling facilities: 40 classrooms, eight living units for 24 counsellors, and 190 early childhood development kits. Moreover, UNICEF is training social workers to provide psychosocial support to children who have suffered from the earthquake. The Kuwaiti contribution will go a long way to improving actions already taken by UNICEF.
-Akshika Patel
SOURCE: UNICEF
