Beacons for the future

CREATING A LASTING CONTRIBUTION TO TURKEY’S RESILIENCE

On February 6, 2023, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck southern and central Turkey, and north-west Syria. This powerful quake, and subsequent aftershocks, caused tremendous damage in an area roughly the size of Germany. An estimated 14 million people were affected, of whom 1.5 million were left homeless.

JTI FOUNDATION ALLOCATION

CHF 500,000

TIMELINE

SEPTEMBER 2023 – AUGUST 2026

IMPLEMENTING PARTNER

BUILD CHANGE

Following the earthquake, Build Change dispatched a team of experts to southern Turkey, meeting with a broad range of local stakeholders.

The team’s objective was to design a program consistent with Build Change’s disaster-resilience ethos, while also tailored to the requirements of the specific situation in Turkey.

Build Change’s response begins with the construction of three multifunctional ‘Resilience Beacons’ in each of Istanbul, Adana and Izmir. These will act both as advocacy and training centers, and as bases for future civil society and volunteer operations, when future disasters arise.

In addition, Build Change will use the Resilience Beacons to deliver technical advice, training for community leaders, and advocacy workshops – along with specialist courses for engineers, architects and other professionals in the construction sector.

Over the three-year life of the program, Build Change will hand over the Resilience Beacons entirely to local personnel – to the ultimate benefit of 60,000 people in earthquake-affected areas of Turkey.