New Zealand Red Cross is sending its first international delegate to Türkiye to support the local humanitarian response to the devastation caused by two major earthquakes on 6 February. The earthquakes have impacted 21 million people in both south eastern Türkiye and north western Syria.

Dallas Roy is an experienced operations management specialist with New Zealand Red Cross and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). He has worked on major emergency responses. Previously, Dallas was an engineering officer with the NZ Defence Force, he also worked in project management with New Zealand government agencies, and carried out international emergency work, including earthquake and cyclone response.

The scale of this disaster is still unfolding. Over 9,000 Red Cross Red Crescent staff and volunteers are already on the ground providing essential humanitarian assistance in the region. Local teams from Kizilay (Turkish Red Crescent) and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent have been working around the clock since the earthquakes occurred. They are deeply rooted in the communities affected, know the area, understand the culture and speak the languages. Dallas’ role will be to complement and support this work at a strategic level.

Viv Euini, Director of International Operations at New Zealand Red Cross says, “Dallas was one of the first delegates to offer his skills to help with the earthquake response. His knowledge and experience in operations management means he can support local teams right from the moment he steps off the plane.”

Dallas’ role in Türkiye will be Operations Manager, working with the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). He will be part of the leadership for the response operation on behalf of the IFRC. His work includes overall strategy, setting priorities, budget management and co-ordination with local teams on the ground. Security management, and transition to recovery is also part of the role. Dallas will be constantly monitoring the disaster situation and overall context and adapting the IFRC operational response when necessary. He will be visiting the affected region regularly.

Dallas says, “It’s a privilege to be able to support the response work.”

He departs New Zealand on Friday 17 February and will be based in Ankara, Türkiye for three months.

Viv Euini says “We have a team of more than 100 New Zealand based technical experts ‘on call’ in our International Delegate Programme ready to be sent to assist in crisis areas. We are in the process of looking at other specialists who have the necessary skills and experience required on the ground.

“We’re really thankful to all those who have donated to our Türkiye Syria Earthquakes Appeal. This support has enabled us to send Dallas to Türkiye, and potentially others, to carry out this important work to support the response.”

Dallas is from Rangiora, North Canterbury. With the NZ Defence Force, he served in peace monitoring missions in Bougainville, landmine clearance in Cambodia and disaster response for the tsunami in Papua New Guinea in 1998. Since leaving the military in 2000, Dallas has worked in many countries in emergencies, including continuing landmine clearance work in Afghanistan, Vietnam and again in Cambodia.

As an international delegate with New Zealand Red Cross, he worked on the Kaikōura earthquake and tsunami response in 2016. He also supported Fiji Red Cross with the response to Tropical Cyclone Yasa in Fiji and then remotely from New Zealand in 2021. He has recently returned from two months in Pakistan as Operations Manager with IFRC supporting Pakistan Red Crescent. There he implemented the emergency action plan in the aftermath of the Pakistan floods in 2022 – which has impacted an area slightly smaller than Aotearoa New Zealand. The mission was the most challenging for him to date. It was a massive geographically complex operation, involving a multitude of aid and government organisations from around the world.

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