The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) today (Thurs 3 March) launches an appeal to raise urgent funds to help those forced to flee their homes amid escalating conflict. More than 750,000 people have fled Ukraine in the last week and many more have been displaced inside the country due to intense fighting.

Working with media and corporate partners is central to how the DEC runs appeals and maximises funds raised for people affected by disasters.

The threat of winter looms in Syria where people are already dying from conflict and Covid, says aid worker Shahinaz Muamar, from a local partner of a DEC charity.

"I wish we were celebrating that the pandemic is over now but, unfortunately, it's far from over. It has gone on for so long, people are tired and their resilience has been stretched and stretched and stretched," writes Hebdavi Muhindo, Tearfund Country Director in the Democratic Republic of Congo.