Following the devastating earthquake that recently hit Turkey and Syria, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), the European Olympic Committees (EOC) and the Olympic Refuge Foundation (ORF) will donate a total of $1 million to help the Olympic community in the areas affected by the natural disaster.
The IOC and OCA will each give $250,000, EOC will give €‎250,000, while the ORF will make available an additional amount of $260,000 for immediate emergency assistance to the local population and refugees in Turkey.
The Olympic Refuge Foundation has immediately released funds from the first-year funding of its Sport for Solidarity programme , one of its biggest programmes currently running in Turkey. Developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth and Sport, the Association for Solidarity with Asylum Seekers and Migrants (ASAM), the UNHCR and the Turkish Olympic Committee, the Sport for Solidarity programme uses sport to help young refugees and asylum seekers feel safe and protected, while building links with their local communities. It is being delivered in seven of the most densely populated cities in Turkey, including the areas most affected by the earthquake (Mersin, Sanliurfa and Adana), where a large Syrian refugee population is also present. In consideration of the devastating impact on them, their families and the host community, the ORF contribution, originally planned to support the programme, will now be used for humanitarian assistance, such as providing clothes, blankets, food and shelter.
