To Whomsoever it May Concern
The Earthquake in Turkey and North -West Syria
In my capacity as the President of The International Emergency Management Society – TIEMS, I want to convey my heartfelt condolences to the family members of the people who have lost their lives due to the devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Turkey and north-west Syria. Large numbers of trained Urban Search and Rescue personnel have flown in from several countries and international emergency response is being coordinated by UNDAC, UNOCHA and INSARAG teams in the affected areas. As the search and rescue process is continuing, the numbers of earthquake victims are rising and have reportedly crossed more than 20,000 lives lost due to the earthquake.
TIEMS strongly believe that strict enforcement and compliance with earthquake resilient building codes will help in the earthquake-prone countries of the world. We also believe that creating greater public awareness on strengthening earthquake preparedness through education, training, mock drills and certification of people in emergency management will strengthen the capacity of people to prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters. TIEMS conducts international certification in emergency management and awards TQC and TQAC diplomas to those who qualify in the examinations conducted by TIEMS with four courses, INSARAG being one of the courses concerning Search and Rescue which the examinees have to qualify in.
The International Emergency Management Society – TIEMS was established in 1993 in Washington D.C., USA and is now registered in Brussels, Belgium as an international not for profit NGO. TIEMS has a Global Board of Directors and country chapters in several countries around the world. TIEMS has been organising Annual Conferences hosted by its national chapters every year since its inauguration and the most recent one was held at Kennesaw State University in Atlanta, Georgia in the United States in 2022 hosted by the TIEMS US Chapter. TIEMS has emergency management practitioners and disaster management experts as members and its outreach is to over 15000 domain experts and professionals across the world.
TIEMS members include first responders, risk governance experts, policy analysts and emergency management professionals and practitioners. We find that the earthquake victims in north west Syria who have been crippled by more than 12 years of conflict are devastated by this earthquake and that aid and relief supplies are not reaching these people adequately compared to the flow of aid and relief to the earthquake victims in Turkey. TIEMS appeals to Antonio Guterres, the United Nations Secretary General and the United Nations Security Council to open a humanitarian corridor for aid and relief flows to north western Syria to help the earthquake victims in the freezing winter. TIEMS also urges the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) to advocate for strict enforcement and compliance of building codes in earthquake prone countries.
TIEMS offers its willingness to be of assistance to the United Nations to strengthen the emergency preparedness and response capacities in the earthquake affected regions.
Oslo, 10th February 2023
TIEMS President
K. Harald Drager
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