A team from the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR) and SALAR International, a subsidiary organization to SALAR, were in multiple cities and municipalities in Turkey for a two-day (27-28) March field visit. During this field-visit the team visited Mersin, Kahramanmaras and Hatay, municipalities in the South East of Turkey that lie at the very epicenter of the earthquake of the 6th of February, and Ankara, the capital of the country. The field visit was part of the first step to investigate initial assessment of what could be needed for an early recovery intervention in the aftermath of the recent earthquakes which ravaged both Turkey and Syria.
“SALAR International’s focus will be on urban functionality concerning the services and economy in Turkey. The road to recovery will be long. However, we will be working with and supporting the local authorities that are under huge pressure right now”, says Ryan Knox, Managing Director of SALAR International.
During this initial assessment the team was mostly focused on looking for future opportunities to support the Turkish local authorities in the recovery of their cities. “We’re trying to see if our work on resilience planning with local authorities can lend itself to sort of thinking of medium and longer term about recovery, which means engaging communities in the recovery and thinking about different services, restoration of basic services, thinking about planning for the city and what it will look like in the future when it recovers.”
SALAR International supports the strengthening of local democracy and regional level in multiple countries across the world. To follow the work of the organization make sure to visit their LinkedIn or their webpage.