UK Charities launch Bangladesh Cyclone Appeal

The Disaster Emergency Committee’s 13 major aid agencies today launched an appeal to help millions of people left without food and shelter following the Bangladesh cyclone.

The DEC Appeal will provide desperately needed relief to people suffering after one of the most ferocious cyclones to hit Bangladesh in decades.

More than five million people have been affected. Families have been left without enough food, water, or shelter, while an estimated million homes have been destroyed or damaged and around a million acres of cropland devastated.

The Disasters Emergency Committee agencies are Action Aid, British Red Cross, CAFOD, CARE International UK, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide, Help the Aged, Islamic Relief, Merlin, Oxfam, Save the Children, Tearfund and World Vision.

Public donations will be used for immediate needs such as food, clean water, medicines and shelter. But the scale of the devastation is so immense that a huge relief and reconstruction effort will be needed over the coming months.

Brendan Gormley, DEC chief executive said: “Our member agencies are already working in Bangladesh providing humanitarian aid and we know that funds are urgently needed to be able to continue this work. This is a terrible tragedy and the sheer scale of devastation and suffering means we must help in every way we can.