DEC appeal raises £13 million for Yemen

The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) appeal for Yemen has raised £13 million since it was launched 10 days ago, with the total continuing to rise.
 
Two years of conflict have pushed Yemen, already one of the world’s poorest countries, to breaking point. Half of the population – 14 million people – is going hungry and needs help before it’s too late. A child is dying every ten minutes because of preventable diseases and child malnutrition is at an all-time high.
 
The DEC’s Chief Executive Saleh Saeed said: “We would like to thank the UK public for so generously donated to our Yemen Crisis Appeal, helping us raise more than £13 million.
 
“Half of Yemen’s population is going hungry and children are starving to death as we speak. With the funds raised, we will be able to provide emergency drip feeding for those on the brink of starvation, nutritious peanut paste for malnourished children and cash vouchers for families unable to afford food and medicine.
 
“The crisis in Yemen may be far from over but, despite the conflict, DEC member charities are already reaching millions of people across the country with lifesaving aid, and, with extra funds, they can reach many more.”
 
The UK public’s generosity has been boosted by the UK Government’s contribution of more than £4.5 million through Aid Match, while partners such as Comic Relief, British Airways and the Scottish government have also made significant donations. 
 
Actor Tom Hardy joined the appeal to ask the public for its support. In a TV appeal, he said: “I'm a father and I know that many of our children in the UK are looking forward to holidays and presents right now. Children in Yemen live in a far-off country many of us are not familiar with, but they are children nonetheless, children just like yours or mine, children who are in urgent need of the very basics to survive. So, at a time of year which is all about giving, a little from us here will make a massive difference there. Because it will save their lives.”
 
Presenter Clare Balding also urged people to give to the appeal. “Half a million young children are starving. This is an unbearable situation,” she said in a TV broadcast. “Operating in areas of conflict is difficult but DEC agencies are working with local teams to deliver aid to communities on both sides. They’re giving food to babies and toddlers who won’t survive without it, providing medical supplies so parents don’t have to choose between feeding their hungry children or buying medicine for their sick ones. And with a cholera outbreak spreading through parts of the country they’re providing clean, safe drinking water.”
 
Martin Clunes and Sandi Toksvig also broadcast calls for support for the DEC Yemen Crisis Appeal.
 
To make a donation to the DEC Yemen Crisis Appeal visit www.dec.org.uk, call the 24-hour hotline on 0370 60 60 900, or donate over the counter at any high street bank or post office. You can also donate £5 by texting the word SUPPORT to 70000.
 
What your money could buy:

• £25 could provide a month’s supply of life-saving peanut paste to a malnourished child
• £60 could provide clean drinking water for two families for a month
• £100 could provide supplies to a clinic treating severely malnourished children for a week

Stay up to date with developments in Yemen, the emergency response and the fundraising efforts with the DEC on twitter: www.twitter.com/decappeal; on Facebook via www.facebook.com/DisastersEmergencyCommittee or by following #YemenCrisis
 
Photos, footage and spokespeople available
 
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Notes to editors
 

1. The DEC brings 13 leading UK aid charities together in times of crisis: ActionAid UK, Age International, British Red Cross, CAFOD, CARE International UK, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide, Islamic Relief Worldwide, Oxfam GB, Plan International UK, Save the Children UK, Tearfund and World Vision UK; all collectively raising money to reach those in need quickly. ActionAid UK, Plan International UK and World Vision UK are not responding in Yemen.
2. To donate £5 by text send the word SUPPORT to 70000. The full £5 will go to the DEC Yemen Crisis Appeal. Donors must be 16 years or over and have bill payer’s permission. Texts are free and donations will be added to the bill.
3. Examples of the DEC member charities’ activities in Yemen include:

• CARE has provided food to over 860,000 people in Amran and Abyan provinces and water, hygiene kits and cash to over 65,000 people in Hajja and Aden.
• Islamic Relief has provided clean water to over 140,000 people, food supplements such as fortified peanut pastes to 40,000 malnourished children and pregnant or breastfeeding mothers, and medical supplies, including trauma kits, pain relief, oxygen tanks to hospitals in seven provinces.
• Oxfam is distributing cash or vouchers to more than 125,000 people in Hodeida, Hajjah and Taiz so they can buy food or other essentials, trucking safe water to 435,500 people and providing latrines for 200,000 people, including families forced from their homes.
• The Red Cross has repaired water points and distributed purification kits to provide 2.2m people with clean water and is supporting 52 hospitals, 16 health facilities and 19 primary health centres with medical and surgical supplies, as well as others with costs including solar power back-up.
• Save the Children is supplying 60 fixed health facilities in five provinces with medical supplies benefitting over 380,000 people and has screened nearly 70,000 children for malnutrition and provided enriched food pastes to help children gain weight. It is also providing water and sanitation to two hospitals in Hodeida to help fight a cholera outbreak, benefitting more than 8,000 people.
• Tearfund is supporting partners to train 400 First Responder volunteers across the country and helping collect rainwater to supply over 3,000 people in Hajjah with clean water to drink.

More DEC member charities - Age International, Christian Aid, CAFOD and Concern Worldwide - are part of the appeal and will support activities of partners already working in Yemen.