In late August 2017, an eruption of violence in Rakhine State, Myanmar, caused the mass movement of more than half a million people – mostly Rohingya women, children and older people – across the border into Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh. They arrived on foot and by boat, exhausted and hungry, with few possessions and very little money or food. 

With more than a million people in urgent need of life-saving assistance, the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) launched an appeal, raising a total of £30 million, including £5 million from the UK Government’s Aid Match scheme. This report provides an overview of how funds donated directly to the DEC (£20.4 million) were spent between October 2017 and the end of December 2019.

During the first six months of the response, these funds allowed DEC charities to reach at least 351,000 people, while during the second phase (April 2018-December 2019) it enabled them to reach at least 309,000.

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