The Children First is a cash assistance project planned to be implemented for the children of the most vulnerable families affected by the earthquakes in Kahramanmaraş. It has been decided that the project, financed by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), is implemented within the Türk Kızılay KIZILAYKART Cash Based Assistance Programmes with the support of the Ministry of Family and Social Services (MoFSS).

The project aims to mitigate the negative effects of the devastating earthquake on children and support families with children to purchase essential goods and services most relevant to their needs to help with their recovery. A one-off payment of TRY 900 will be provided to the most vulnerable families with children affected by the earthquake. The project will also have a complementary component, where beneficiaries will receive informative messages on child protection and social services as well as hygiene and sanitation measures available to them.

UNICEF is funding the first phase of the project and plans to continue and expand it in partnership with the international donor community.

The Project will support vulnerable families with children (ages 0-17);

o Benefitted from one of the following prioritized child-focused social assistance programmes provided by the Social Assistance and Solidarity Foundations (SASFs);
o Conditional cash transfer for health
o Conditional cash transfer for pregnant and lactating women
o Assistance for the carers of children with disabilities,
o Assistance for orphan children,
o Assistance for children whose fathers are under compulsory military service.
o Officially residing in the severely affected provinces before or at the time of the earthquake (Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, Malatya, Adıyaman, Gaziantep, Osmaniye, Diyarbakır), though may have moved to another province at the moment, and
o With at least one adult identified as alive in the household based on the inquiry from MERNIS database (Ministry of Internal Affairs),
o Are not benefiting from cash transfers provided by IFRC, UN WFP and Türk Kızılay (Collective Kindness Project) or other cash assistance programmes provided through Türk Kızılay-KIZILAYKART,
The severely affected provinces are selected based on the results of the Türkiye Earthquakes Recovery and Reconstruction Assessment (TERRA) published by the President of Strategy and Budget.

Each eligible household will receive 900 TL per household regardless of the number of children in the family. The amount has been informed by the Minimum Expenditure Basket (MEB) study conducted by UN WFP, IFRC and Türk Kızılay.

The transfer amount is to address basic needs such as food, personal hygiene products, clothing, stationery, communication and transportation needs of children in vulnerable families affected by the earthquake.

The project will provide a one-off payment. Each eligible family will receive one payment of 900 TL per household.

Yes, the project will also have a complementary messaging component. Each eligible household will receive informative messages via text message on child protection and social services as well as hygiene and sanitation measures available that are available to your children.

All questions, complaints and feedback about the project can be made by calling the toll-free 168 Kızılay Call Center. Support is provided in multiple languages whenever required and your queries will be responded in a short time;

- For Turkish language: 168 Kızılay Call Centre between 08:00 - 24:00, seven days a week.
- For other languages (English, Arabic, Persian, Pashto): 168 Kızılay Call Center from Monday to Friday between 08:00 and 18:00, and on Saturdays between 09:00 and 13:00.

There is no application or registration for the project. The eligible households will receive a text message from the Türk Kızılay on the phone number that is provided to SASF when it was applied for the child-focused social assistance programmes.

No. If anyone asks you for money or favours to be included in the project, they are providing you with false information!

You do not need to pay any person or institution any fee. you will receive a text message from the Türk Kızılay on the phone number that you provided to SASF when you applied for the child-focused social assistance programmes.

, You will receive a text message about your eligibility from the Türk Kızılay (with KZLYUNICEF sender name) on the phone number that you provided to SASF when you applied for the child-focused social assistance programmes.

You can apply the SASF in your district to update your phone number or get further support by calling the toll-free 168 Kızılay Call Center.

There is no application or registration for the project. The beneficiaries will get notified with short messages on their mobile phones. If anyone asks you for money or favours to be included in the project, they are providing you with false information!

The households which are eligible according to the project criteria but have not received a text message, can submit all the questions, complaints and feedback about the project by calling the toll-free 168 Kızılay Call Center.

A text message with a reference code will be sent to your mobile phone by Halkbank, which can be used to withdraw the cash assistance from designated ATMs. You do not need a bank account or bank card to receive or withdraw the funds. You will also get text messages explaining how, when, and where to withdraw your money and a link to the project webpage for further information.

The payment is planned to be made on 23 June 2023. A text message will be sent to you by Türk Kızılay before the payment is made.

You will be informed about the validity period of the reference code via text message. For more detailed information, you can call toll-free 168 Kızılay Call Center.

You will have 30 days to withdraw your money. The days will be counted from the payment date you were informed from the text message on our mobile phone. You will be further informed about the validity period of the reference code and the time period you can withdraw your money via text message. For more detailed information, you can call toll-free 168 Kızılay Call Center.

After you receive a text message with the bank reference code from Halkbank, you will receive one additional text message from Türk Kızılay (with KZLYUNICEF sender name) that will remind you to withdraw your cash assistance.

If you have not withdrawn your assistance within the dates informed by Halkbank SMS, the bank reference code will no longer be valid, and you will not be able to get your cash assistance.

The cash assistance can be withdrawn from all Halkbank ATMs throughout the country. In addition to Halkbank ATMs, withdrawals can be made from ATMs of Ziraat Bank, Vakıfbank, Vakıf Katılım Bankası, Ziraat Participation Bank, PTT and Emlak Katılım Banks which is a member of ""TAM""* (ATM's which has TAM sign on it). You can access the ATM List from this link , where you can withdraw your assistance by using the referance code sent to you by Halkbank via SMS.
*TAM: ATM Center of Türkiye

Yes, the total amount of assistance will have to be redeemed at once. Each reference code can only be used once.

You can go to nearby Halkbank or TAM* ATMs which has enough money to allow you to withdraw all amount. If you have any problem regarding withdrawing your assistance, please call toll-free 168 Kızılay Call Center for detailed information.

No, you do not have to pay any fee to withdraw your money. If anyone asks you for money or favours to be included in the project, they are providing you with false information!