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TURKEY / EMERGENCY CASH
STORY: TURKEY / EMERGENCY CASH
TRT: 3:43
SOURCE: WFP
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT WFP ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ARABIC / ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 6-10 FEBRUARY 2020, ANKARA, TURKEY / 14 FEBRUARY 2020, ANKARA, TURKEY / FILE
6-10 FEBRUARY 2020, ANKARA, TURKEY
1. Various shots, Syrian neighbourhood
6-10 FEBRUARY 2020, ANKARA, TURKEY
2. Various shots, Amira and her children shopping and then eating
14 FEBRUARY 2020, ANKARA, TURKEY
3. SOUDNBITE (Arabic) Amira, Syrian refugee benefitting from ESSN:
“The assistance card has helped us in many things in winter, such as heating and buying clothes for the children and for ourselves. It has also helped us in buying clothes during the summer as well as purchasing vegetables, food and milk for the children from the market. The card has helped us with many things. Our life will be better as long as it exists, hopefully.”
FILE – WFP – 15 JANUARY 2013, KILIS, TURKEY
4. Wide shot, border gate in Kilis, Turkey
14 FEBRUARY 2020, ANKARA, TURKEY
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Claudia Amaral, European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid:
“The ESSN is the largest humanitarian operation of the European Union and it is a success story. Over one point 75 million of the most vulnerable refugees are being supported through the ESSN. This means that they have monthly cash transfers that allow them to have the freedom of choice to purchase what is their priority - medication, transport, rent, whatever it is. This is a joint effort that brings together the EU, WFP, TRC and the Government of Turkey. And a concrete expression of the solidarity of the EU towards Turkey.”
10 FEBRUARY 2020, ANKARA, TURKEY
6. Various shots, Delivan and her family, she is a Syrian refugee benefitting from ESSN in Ankara, Turkey
Delivan and her husband Nazir left Aleppo, Syria in 2014 with their child and his mother and father. Nazir had to carry his father as they were travelling to Turkey as he couldn’t walk. Thanks to the ESSN cash assistance, they can afford to heat their house.
6 MARCH 2020, Ankara, Turkey
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Nils Grede, World Food Programme:
“Last Ramadan, I visited a refugee household - a widow with three girls. The mother for several years in a row had not been able to prepare the traditional Ramadan foods for her girls because she didn't have an oven. This year thanks to the cash assistance she was able to buy an oven and prepare those foods. And her girls was so happy that they could experience those familiar tastes again after so many years. We are proud that we were able to bring back a tiny piece of normality to their lives.”
10 FEBRUARY 2020, ANKARA, TURKEY
8. Various shots, Delivan and her family, a Syrian refugee benefitting from ESSN
Cash assistance from WFP and the European Union helps keep Syrian refugees in Turkey out of poverty.
As Syria enters its 10th year of conflict, which has forced more than 5.6 million people to flee their country, a survey of a major WFP cash assistance scheme in Turkey indicates that European Union-funded support has helped prevent 1.7 million vulnerable refugees – mostly Syrians – from falling deeper into poverty.
Families receiving assistance have been better able to cover their basic needs, less likely to have children helping earn money to put food on the table and were able to eat a reasonable diet, according to sample groups of refugees interviewed as part of WFP monitoring.
Amira came to Ankara, Turkey in 2014 from Hama, Syria. Her husband is working in a small local furniture factory. Thanks to the ESSN cash assistance they can make the ends meet. Amira can now afford nutritious food for her children.
SOUDNBITE (Arabic) Amira, Syrian refugee benefitting from ESSN:
“The assistance card has helped us in many things in winter, such as heating and buying clothes for the children and for ourselves. It has also helped us in buying clothes during the summer as well as purchasing vegetables, food and milk for the children from the market. The card has helped us with many things. Our life will be better as long as it exists, hopefully.”
WFP and the European Union (EU) joined forces in late 2016 with the Turkish government and the Turkish Red Crescent to launch the Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN), a programme which provides monthly cash allowances to the most vulnerable refugees.
Turkey currently hosts the largest number of refugees in the World: four million. More than 98 per cent of these people live in the cities and towns with the host population.
SOUNDBITE (English) Claudia Amaral, European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid:
“The ESSN is the largest humanitarian operation of the European Union and it is a success story. Over 1.75 million of the most vulnerable refugees are being supported through the ESSN. This means that they have monthly cash transfers that allow them to have the freedom of choice to purchase what is their priority - medication, transport, rent, whatever it is. This is a joint effort that brings together the EU, WFP, TRC and the Government of Turkey. And a concrete expression of the solidarity of the EU towards Turkey.”
Turkey has taken more Syrian refugees than any other country. Of the approximately 4 million refugees in Turkey, some 3.6 million are from Syria. With work opportunities being scarce, many families have struggled to make ends meet.
The ESSN is the biggest humanitarian project the EU has ever funded, with WFP receiving €1.3 billion since 2016. It is also one of the largest humanitarian cash programmes ever mounted by the United Nations.
Thanks to the ESSN, each member of an eligible family receives the equivalent of €19 per month, plus quarterly top-ups according to family size. The money is loaded every month onto a special debit card - families can either withdraw the money at an ATM or use the card to pay in shops.
SOUNDBITE (English) Nils Grede, World Food Programme:
“Last Ramadan, I visited a refugee household - a widow with three girls. The mother for several years in a row had not been able to prepare the traditional Ramadan foods for her girls because she didn't have an oven. This year thanks to the cash assistance she was able to buy an oven and prepare those foods. And her girls was so happy that they could experience those familiar tastes again after so many years. We are proud that we were able to bring back a tiny piece of normality to their lives.”
The refugees can spend the money on whatever they need. Studies show that the 1.7 million refugees mostly spend it on rent, utilities, food and other household supplies.
According to surveys of families, their lives improved or stabilised after they started receiving the monthly cash.
The percentage of people saying they were able to cover all their basic needs went up from one in four to one in two between May 2017 and September 2019. Over the same period, the proportion of families in which children had to work to help bring in money dropped by almost half. There was a corresponding reduction in the tendency of families to pull their children out of school. At the same time, the percentage of families saying they had been forced to cut back on health spending fell by a third.
Meanwhile, data on eating habits showed that, despite economic difficulties and rising prices in late 2018 and early 2019, almost all families receiving ESSN support (97 percent) have managed to maintain an adequately nutritious and diverse diet.
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