Turkey-Syria Earthquake: Online aid marketplace launched to speed up critical minutes of aid response

LONDON, Feb. 15, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As the death toll in Turkey reaches 36,000, online aid marketplace 'Respondlocal' is launching in Turkey to speed up the aid response. The online platform, launched by tech start-up NeedsList in collaboration with Google.org, encourages local partners to post their needs and match with suppliers within just minutes, in a bid to hasten the aid response. 

The platform, which will be administered by local partner Field Ready, will enable local organisations to post their communities' needs and have them matched by donors, large-scale non-profit organisations, and private sector companies; saving critical minutes and hours as the situation escalates. 

In addition to running the platform, Field Ready already works in the area of Northwest Syria, and will continue creating and distributing insulation panels and floor insulation tiles to thousands of people to protect them from winter cold, which will be critical as temperatures plummet.  The organisation will also deploy "rescue airbags" made from locally recovered and recycled materials (including deployed vehicle airbags) which can raise heavy debris and help free those trapped beneath a collapsed structure.  

The platform has been tried and tested in humanitarian crises across the world, distributing more than $19 million in aid to more than 500,000 recipients in 25 countries, including supporting the resettlement of Afghan, Ukrainian, and Venezuelan refugees in the USA and providing locally produced COVID PPE to refugee health workers in Bangladesh, Iraq, Uganda, and Kenya. It also recently launched in Ukraine, enabling local partners to participate in a complex aid response.

The launch of the platform in Turkey will not only support the current emergency situation in Syria and Turkey after the devastating earthquakes, but will be a long-term solution to coordination issues in Syria which has been embroiled in a decade-long war.

RespondLocal was recently upgraded for global deployment of 7 Google.org Fellows who strengthened security features, created dynamic translation across five languages, improved reporting, and streamlined access.

To sign up please go to https://respondlocal.neesdlist.co 

Notes to Editors

?  For more information please visit our website at www.needslist.co or contact [email protected] or [email protected] to arrange an interview with Jen Carter, Global Head of Technology, Google.org

SOURCE NeedsList