Turkey ranks third in international aid donations list

ISTANBUL

Iraqi Yazidi refugees gather to receive food at the Newroz camp in Hasaka province on Aug 14, after fleeing advances by the jihadist Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). AFP Photo

Turkey was the world’s third most generous country for the allocation of international aid in 2013, according to the Global Humanitarian Assistance Report released on Sept. 11.

The country provided $1.6 billion last year for international humanitarian assistance, while the U.S. spent $4.7 billion and Britain spent $1.8 billion. Japan spent $1.1 billion and Germany donated $949 million.

Turkey ranked first in the list of donations when compared to gross national income. Turkey’s assistance in 2013 amounted to 0.21 percent of its gross national income and increased by $591 million.

It is the second successive year that Turkey has been placed third on this list.

The report also found that the largest volumes and increase in aid between 2012 and 2013 came from Turkey and Kuwait, while the assistance of Brazil and Qatar decreased by 97 percent and 34 percent respectively.

The international community responded to the dramatic scale of need in 2013 with a record $22 billion in funding, a significant increase from the two previous years. This amount is also over $2.5 billion more than the previous peak of $19.4 billion in 2010, the year of the Haiti earthquake and the Pakistan floods. It also represents a sharp turn from the declines in international aid witnessed in 2011 and 2012.

The international response to the Syria crisis accounts for a significant portion of the 2013 rise. In 2013, 37 percent ($3.1 billion) of funding for U.N.-coordinated appeals went to the Syria crisis.

Although a breakdown of Turkey’s humanitarian assistance is not yet available for 2013, it is likely that a significant portion of this total amount went to the Syrian crisis, including assistance to Syrian refugees inside Turkey. Turkey has spent a total of more than $3.5 billion to aid Syrians since the civil war broke out in 2011.

The Turkish disaster management agency was the first rescue service to reach typhoon victims in the Philippines. The agency also provided aid to the Central African Republic and Afghanistan and sent hundreds of trucks to northern Iraq and Gaza.