Dates: July 2023
Location: Türkiye
Theme: Tackling Socioeconomic Inequalities, Humanitarian Aid, Disaster Response
The February 6 earthquake brought not only physical but also emotionally challenging experiences. Established in collaboration with the Zurich Foundation, Zurich Insurance Turkey, and Needs Map, the “Side by Side” Platform has been redesigned to contribute to helping the target groups cope with the emotional challenges left by the earthquake and support their well-being. With this project, the “Side by Side” Platform, which encourages the positive impact of the well-being of individuals affected by the earthquake, provides services through an online mental health portal, allowing visitors to apply for online counseling sessions. In this regard, the “Side by Side” Project serves via a platform aimed at providing free psychological counseling services to local healthcare workers, disaster first responders, individuals who lost their homes in the earthquake, and teachers, as well as their families, to support them in managing their mental well-being. Thus, the platform aims to provide long-term, sustainable support and activities for experts, youth, and children in container cities and community centers in the earthquake region (centered around Hatay and Kahramanmaras) to ensure mental health and well-being.
Moreover, one-on-one sessions have been offered by the experts to container city residents to help them cope with personal trauma, stress, and losses, and mental health and psychosocial support activities will be organized for youth and children. Additionally, group sessions will be organized, and improvements will be made for online group sessions on the platform.
Nevertheless, people who have moved from the earthquake region to other cities are also beneficiaries of the platform. Expert psychologists on the platform and specialists in container cities will provide online support to each other when needed. This system aims to strengthen the professional skills of expert psychologists and increase their capacities while ensuring the sustainability of support provided to individuals in need in the region. Furthermore, the project creates new job opportunities by employing local psychologists and facilitates collaboration between volunteer psychologists and experts.