Coronavirus Appeal tops £15 million as DEC charities use UK donations to help protect the world’s most vulnerable people

Press release 23 July 2020

The DEC Coronavirus Appeal has raised £15 million since its launch on 14 July and DEC charities are now starting to use these funds to help people in the world’s most fragile states protect themselves against Coronavirus.

Aid being delivered with funding from appeal donations includes:

  • In Yemen, Oxfam will be supplying clean water, handwashing facilities, hygiene kits and public health messaging; Action Against Hunger will be supporting health facilities and a mobile clinic with health services, including identifying and treating malnutrition.
  • In Syria, World Vision will be supporting a dedicated Covid hospital and health facilities with handwashing stations, PPE and other services, as well as providing households with soap.
  • In Somalia, Plan International will be installing water tanks and handwashing facilities at health centres and schools near camps for internally displaced people and Islamic Relief will be setting up screening stations to carry out surveillance and early detection at primary healthcare centres.
  • In South Sudan, Tearfund will be supporting health and nutrition centres as well as reaching out to people within church communities raising awareness about the need for improved hygiene practices and social distancing.
  • In Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), ActionAid will be installing handwashing facilities in households and Christian Aid will be targeting communities with health and hygiene information.
  • In Afghanistan, ActionAid will be providing households with hygiene kits and will be establishing handwashing stations.
  • In the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh, Save the Children will be providing care to children and families with Covid-19 at its 60-bed Isolation and Treatment Centres; the Red Cross will be supporting health facilities and Age International will be helping older people and their care-givers.

Today the UK Government announced a further £5 million of Aid Match funding to the appeal. This support will double the impact of future donations from the public and will ensure that DEC charities working on the ground can reach even more of the world’s most vulnerable people as they face the coronavirus pandemic. PayPal users have also been key supporters of the DEC appeal, having raised £600,000 and counting, generously donated through a dedicated fundraising page and ‘give at checkout’.

DEC Chief Executive Saleh Saeed said: “We are very grateful to everyone who has supported the DEC Coronavirus Appeal so far; together we have raised £15 million. As ever, people across the country have demonstrated their generosity and compassion. Every donation will give vulnerable families living in the world’s most fragile states the help they urgently need to face the silent threat of coronavirus.”

The DEC Coronavirus Appeal will help the most vulnerable people in six of the world’s most fragile states: Yemen and Syria; Somalia, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo; and Afghanistan. A total of 24 million displaced people live in crowded camps and settlements in these countries. The appeal also includes the world’s largest refugee camp – in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, where more than 850,000 Rohingya refugees have sought sanctuary.

The 14 DEC member charities are already present and working in these places and they urgently need more funds to further scale up their operations and save lives. They need the UK public’s help to: provide families with clean water, soap and information on keeping themselves safe; provide frontline medical and aid workers with equipment and supplies to care for the vulnerable and sick; and ensure families get enough food to prevent malnutrition, particularly amongst children.

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The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis released today by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP) and partners says economic shocks, conflict, floods, desert locusts and now COVID-19 are creating a perfect storm that could reverse hard-earned food security gains in Yemen. 

About the DEC: When large-scale disasters hit countries without the capacity to respond, the DEC brings together 14 leading UK aid charities to raise funds quickly and efficiently. In these times of crisis, people in life-and-death situations need our help and our mission is to save, protect and rebuild lives through effective humanitarian response. The DEC’s 14 member charities are: Action Against Hunger, ActionAid UK, Age International, British Red Cross, CAFOD, CARE International UK, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide UK, Islamic Relief Worldwide, Oxfam GB, Plan International UK, Save the Children UK, Tearfund and World Vision UK.

Through UK Aid Match the Department for International Development gives the British public the opportunity to decide how the UK aid budget is spent and support people in desperate need by matching their donations pound-for-pound up to £10 million. UK Government match funding will go directly to the DEC, doubling the value of the public’s own donations to the DEC appeal up to £10 million and will ensure that DEC member charities working on the ground can reach even more people in need.

UK Aid Match has increased the impact of a number of DEC appeals to help those in need around the world, including most recently to support people affected by Cyclone Idai which hit Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe in March 2019.

UK Aid Match enquiries should be directed to the Department for International Development. Please call 020 7023 0600 (24-hour).

How to donate:  

  • Online: dec.org.uk
  • Phone: 0370 60 60 900
  • SMS: Text SUPPORT to 70150 to donate £10.  Texts cost £10 and the whole £10 goes to the DEC CORONAVIRUS APPEAL. You must be 16 or over and please ask the bill payer's permission. For full terms and conditions and more information go to www.dec.org.uk.
  • Post: Send a cheque to DEC Coronavirus Appeal, PO Box 999, London EC3A 3AA.

Donations will help provide the following:

  • £30 could provide six displaced families with enough soap for a month
  • £50 could provide essential hygiene kits to two displaced families
  • £100 could provide PPE for one frontline health worker for four months.