Media briefing on DEC appeals: April 2018

Rohingya crisis

DEC appeal launched on 4 October 2017; £26 million raised to date (including £5m UK Aid Match); appeal remains open.

Between October and the end of December 2017, DEC member charities provided some relief assistance to more than 445,000 people with funds raised by the DEC. Priorities were food, shelter, medical care, clean water and sanitation support:

• more than 350,000 people received food, including cooked meals in the early stages of the response
• 19,500 families received materials such as tarpaulin and rope to build shelter; household items including sleeping mats, blankets, cooking pots and stoves were provided to 138,000 people
• 10 medical care facilities were set up, providing health care and psychosocial support
• more than 100,000 people now have access to clean water and sanitation services: 400+ latrines were built using DEC funds; 34 deep tube wells were installed to provide safe drinking water.

Current priorities

The main focus currently is on preparing for the monsoon season. The camp sites are overcrowded and built on terrain that is prone to flooding and landslides. The UN estimates that 100,000 people are at risk from these factors. The main areas that DEC charities are working on to help people prepare are:

• close coordination with other relief agencies and the Government of Bangladesh to relocate people out of the high-risk areas
• reinforcing shelters with bamboo and sandbags; strengthening the site of the refugee settlements using sandbags and bamboo to reinforce hillsides and prevent landslides
• decommissioning and desludging latrines and digging deep tube wells to prevent contamination of water sources; the Red Cross has built a waste treatment site designed with potential flooding in mind, and is trialing a new, longer-lasting latrine design
• meeting ongoing food needs and pre-positioning stock reserves as access may become difficult during the monsoon season.

The first phase of the DEC-funded response ran from October 2017 to March 2018. £6.5 million of DEC funds were budgeted during this period and a full report of DEC-funded assistance will be available in late May.

Longer-term plans

The second phase of the DEC-funded response runs from April 2018 to September 2019. Aid delivery during this period will include: support to 9 health facilities and 2 mobile clinics; 55 deep tube wells to provide clean drinking water; public and individual solar lamps to keep 11,000 people safe at night; agricultural tools and seeds as well as business grants to help 15,000 people restore their livelihoods.

East Africa crisis

DEC appeal launched on 15 March 2017; £65 million raised to date (including £10m UK Aid Match); appeal scheduled to close at the end of May 2018.

The DEC acted early to provide member charities and partners with the funds to head off the worst effects of the drought that triggered the food crisis in the region last year and preventing a repeat of the 2011 famine (when as many as 250,000 people died across the region). But the rains have failed again, for the fourth consecutive rainy season, and humanitarian actors are warning of another crisis this year.

• In the first six months of the response (March - Sept 2017) £26.5 million of DEC funds helped members to provide assistance to almost 2.5 million people across Somalia, Kenya, South Sudan and Ethiopia.
• More than 1.5 million people were reached with clean water, hygiene and sanitation, almost 350,000 people with food, and nearly 250,000 people with cash transfers and vouchers.
• Members also reached more than 220,000 people with health services, suppressing outbreaks of disease such as cholera and supporting the already overstretched health infrastructure.
• More than 100,000 children were screened for malnutrition, and more than 50,000 treated for acute malnutrition.
• Read the full 6-month report here.

2018 outlook for East Africa crisis

• Conflict and drought remain the key drivers of extreme levels of acute food insecurity in the region, which will result in as many as 35 million people requiring assistance by May 2018.
• As of December 2017, Somalia and South Sudan faced a risk of famine in 2018 in their respective worst-case scenarios and without ongoing humanitarian assistance. Meanwhile, food security among households in southeastern Ethiopia may begin to deteriorate to catastrophic levels.
• Forecasts suggest rainfall during the upcoming spring rains will be below average across much of the Horn of Africa.
• DEC-funded operations will continue until September 2018, with a focus on food provision and disease prevention and treatment.

Yemen crisis

DEC appeal launched on 13 December 2016; £30.2 million raised (including £5m UK Aid Match); appeal closed at the end of March 2018.

• Between December 2016 and June 2017 DEC charities provided humanitarian assistance to almost 1.4 million people with £7.9 million of DEC funds. Read the 6-month report here.
• Between July and December 2017, DEC charities reached 9,500 people with food parcels, screened 26,400 children for acute malnutrition, and provided more than 1,000 cholera kits and 2,000 hygiene kits.

Notes to editors

Media enquiries: please call the DEC press office on 020 7255 9111 or 07930 999 014. Film footage and stills are available to illustrate all three emergencies and the aid response in operation. Our December 2017 update can be found here.

In instances where more than one DEC member charity is working in the same location, delivering the same kind of assistance, DEC aims to eliminate potential double-counting of people by including only the highest numbers reached at that location.

The figures above refer to results achieved with funds donated directly to the DEC, and do not include results with donations given directly to member charities, which are part of the joint campaign’s fundraising total.

The DEC brings 13 leading UK aid charities together in times of crisis: ActionAid, 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.

The UK Government has supported all three appeals through UK Aid Match, by matching £ for £ money donated by the British public: £5 million for Yemen, £10 million for East Africa and £5 million for Rohingya people fleeing Myanmar.