Media Release
New Zealand Red Cross international delegate heads to Türkiye
17 February 2023
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 Crescent staff and volunteers are already on the ground in both countries, 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.
Information for editors
For all media enquiries please contact us on Media.comms@redcross.org.nz or call 04 495 0139.
Interview with Dallas Roy: If you are interested in speaking to Dallas while he is in Türkiye, please email us and we can facilitate.
Spokesperson: For media interviews about the situation in Türkiye and an overview about our international delegates programme, we can offer as spokesperson Viv Euini, Director of International Operations, (Emergency Management and International), New Zealand Red Cross.
Viv is Auckland based. She leads New Zealand Red Cross’ global response to disasters and conflict in coordination with the International Red Cross Movement. She has a team of experts with wide ranging knowledge and skills who are deployed to support these types of responses.
Support to contact our International Red Cross Movement partners: We can help media to connect with our partners internationally and on the ground in Türkiye and Syria.
B-roll and short interview segments: We have footage of Dallas packing equipment the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has asked him to take for work in the field. Please contact Media.comms@redcross.org.nz or call 04 495 0139 for access.
Photos, Video, and b-roll: We can provide access to Red Cross images and video, on request – including images direct from the impacted region.
How New Zealand Red Cross is responding
- We have launched the Türkiye Syria Earthquakes Appeal. One hundred percent of the funds raised in this appeal will be used to aid the response and recovery efforts of local Red Cross and Red Crescent teams who are providing urgently needed support to the people of Türkiye and Syria, impacted by this disaster.
- Donations can be made online, over the phone or in our shops, more information is available at
Türkiye Syria Earthquakes Appeal or call 0800 RED CROSS (0800 733 27677) - Our Restoring Family Links team is on standby to receive enquiries from people living in Aotearoa New Zealand who have lost contact with loved ones due to the disaster. Find missing family overseas
- We work with the International Red Cross Movement to understand what type of specialists are most needed on the ground and then we look to send appropriate international delegates from our pool of specialists in New Zealand to assist in the response and recovery efforts.
About the Red Cross Movement
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is dedicated to preventing and alleviating human suffering due to conflict, and in emergencies such as epidemics, floods and earthquakes. Red Cross is not a single organisation. It is made up of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the 192 individual National Societies, including New Zealand Red Cross. Each has its own legal identity and role. We have a network of more than 80 million people around the world.
Information about the movement
International Delegate Programme
Our international delegates are skilled Kiwis who work overseas to save lives, alleviate suffering, and maintain human dignity on the front line in conflict zones and in other crises. We have a team of more than 100 technical experts ‘on call’ in our International Delegate Programme ready to be sent to assist in crisis areas. They are highly trained in emergency response and include professionals such as operational managers, engineers, nurses and IT specialists.