HRH The Prince of Wales joins thousands of British supporters as the DEC Coronavirus Appeal reaches £18 million

Press release 30 July 2020

His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales has joined tens of thousands of members of the public who have donated the DEC Coronavirus Appeal, which has now raised £18 million since its launch on 14 July. The Prince’s donation to help the world’s most vulnerable people as they face Covid-19 comes after he suffered from the virus himself in March this year. 

The appeal was launched across the UK’s major broadcasters by Riz Ahmed, Sir Mo Farah, Annie Lennox and Anita Rani and has received extensive support on social media by many other well-known British artists. Unusually, the DEC’s televised appeal was broadcast for a second time by ITV on Wednesday night following a powerful news report from Syria. 

Save the Children ambassador Sir Mo Farah said: “Lockdowns are forcing people out of work and food supply has been disrupted. In Somalia, where I was born, families have already endured years of civil war, poverty, and devastating natural disasters. They were already living hand-to-mouth. For these families, hunger could become an even worse consequence of the pandemic than coronavirus itself. DEC charities are working urgently to protect those most at risk of going hungry, including the very youngest children, for whom hunger could cause life-long damage.” 

DEC Chief Executive Saleh Saeed said: “The coronavirus pandemic has created challenges and sacrifices for us all, and many people here in the UK have sadly lost loved ones. Despite our difficulties here at home it’s incredibly heart-warming to see that the British public have been extremely generous to people thousands of miles away who are now facing coronavirus in dire circumstances. If you haven’t yet donated, please do so. There is still much more work to be done.” 

The DEC Coronavirus Appeal will help the most vulnerable people in six of the world’s most fragile states: Yemen, Syria, Somalia, South Sudan, 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. 

Generous support has been received from the British public, corporations, trusts, schools, community and faith groups. The UK Government has announced £10 million of Aid Match funding to the appeal, doubling donations from the public and ensuring that DEC charities working on the ground can protect and support even more of the world’s most vulnerable people as they face coronavirus. 
 
Ali, 42, lives with his eight children in a camp for displaced people in Yemen. Ali says: “We left our home for a chance to survive the war. The situation has worsened.... There is no source of income. When we have nothing we are forced onto the streets to find food. If your child has a fever, you can’t take them anywhere because people fear they have coronavirus. You have to watch them die.” 
 
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.