Building Resilience: Discover the Inaugural Projects of the Columbia Global Resilience Fund

In the wake of the devastating earthquakes that struck Türkiye and Syria in February 2023, rebuilding lives and communities requires not only immediate recovery efforts but also a long-term vision for resilience and sustainability. The Columbia Global Resilience Fund has emerged as a pivotal initiative, harnessing the expertise of Columbia University’s faculty and partners to address the multifaceted challenges faced by the affected regions. Through innovative projects that combine scientific research, community engagement, and interdisciplinary collaboration, the Resilience Fund is supporting recovery while fostering strategies to build back better.

We wanted to introduce you to the inspiring projects led by the inaugural awardees of the fund. Their work is making a real difference in earthquake-impacted areas, and we hope you find their efforts as meaningful and impactful as we do.

These initiatives reflect a shared commitment to resilience, innovation, and community-centered solutions, contributing to a brighter, more secure future for the earthquake-affected regions.

Çağhan Kızıl combines psychosocial interventions with scientific rigor to help survivors heal from trauma. Through group therapy sessions and EEG-based insights, his team is pioneering methods to address emotional recovery while generating data to inform broader preparedness and response strategies.

What inspired you to apply to the Columbia Global Resilience Fund?

Witnessing the immense challenges faced by earthquake survivors in Turkey motivated us to act. The fund's mission aligns closely with our goal to provide meaningful, evidence-based psychosocial support to aid recovery and foster hope.

How do you believe your project contributes to recovery and resilience efforts in the earthquake-affected region?

Through group therapy programs and EEG-based insights, our project strives to empower survivors, helping them rebuild emotional strength and establish pathways toward sustained healing, while deriving scientific data and developing practices to support broader recovery efforts.

Having engaged with the earthquake-affected communities, what are your key observations about the region's current state and its path to recovery?

The communities are navigating profound loss and trauma with admirable determination and adaptability. These experiences highlight the critical need for timely, compassionate recovery initiatives and provide valuable insights to improve preparedness for future disasters.

Juliana Bol is addressing health equity challenges for refugees and host communities, focusing on barriers to healthcare access and their connection to broader social needs. Her project aims to generate insights that improve health outcomes and strengthen community resilience.

What inspired you to apply to the Columbia Global Resilience Fund?

The program on Forced Migration and Health has conducted research on self-reliance and resilience of Syrian refugees in Jordan. The resilience fund is an opportunity to understand legal, policy, and social facilitators and barriers to accessing healthcare for Syrian refugees and Türkiye (host) communities affected by the earthquake.

How do you believe your project contributes to recovery and resilience efforts in the earthquake-affected region?

The project combines research and advocacy. We aim to engage policymakers and key stakeholders in Türkiye by holding convenings aimed at developing a set of recommendations and policy briefs to address key challenges in accessing health care that are identified through our research. We also aim to disseminate to global policymakers, the research community, and identified additional grants and funds to support future work.

Having engaged with the earthquake-affected communities, what are your key observations about the region's current state and its path to recovery?

While there remains critical need to formalize the remaining informal temporary accommodation sites and accelerate the shift to a more permanent solution, the region has made remarkable progress toward recovery.

Ebru Gencer brings decades of global experience in disaster risk reduction to her home country, focusing on multi-hazard approaches and stakeholder collaboration to shape more resilient urban development in Hatay. The "Building Back Better in Hatay" project seeks to bridge gaps between macro-level recovery efforts and local needs, ensuring that rebuilding efforts reflect inclusive, sustainable planning.

What inspired you to apply to the Columbia Global Resilience Fund?

After years of experience in international disaster risk reduction, I wanted to apply my knowledge to support resilience in my home country. The Fund offers a unique opportunity to collaborate with academics, researchers, and civil society organizations in Türkiye to aid recovery in Hatay after the devastating earthquakes.

How do you believe your project contributes to recovery and resilience efforts in the earthquake-affected region?

Our project promotes multi-hazard thinking and a multi-stakeholder approach to rebuilding Hatay. We are identifying gaps in recovery plans and raising awareness about the importance of inclusive, coordinated efforts to build back better.

Having engaged with the earthquake-affected communities, what are your key observations about the region's current state and its path to recovery?

We have so far explored recovery efforts that are ongoing at two levels: national efforts focus on resilient infrastructure for long-term recovery, while grassroots civil society supports short-term community needs. We aim to explore mid-level district planning through field research and interviews to understand its role in recovery.