Coronavirus
Appeal
Coronavirus
Appeal
New variants of Covid-19 threaten to overwhelm
health systems and cost many lives around the world.
Help vulnerable communities survive the pandemic.
Bushra*, 9, and her family were forced to flee their home due to the war in Syria and now live in a camp for displaced people in Idlib. Image: Islamic Relief
Key facts
8 countries
across which donations are being spent - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, DR Congo, India, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen
20 million
people in need of assistance in Yemen, the world’s worst humanitarian crisis where Covid-19 is surging
As restrictions slowly ease here in the UK, new variants of coronavirus threaten to overwhelm health systems and cost many lives overseas.
Millions of people living in fragile states have little access to medical care or clean water, making them much more vulnerable to new, more contagious variants of coronavirus.
But in many countries the economic effects of the pandemic could be even more deadly than the virus itself as millions of people are pushed towards famine due to falling incomes and rising food prices.
We need your help to:
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support fragile health systems with PPE, equipment, and isolation and medical care facilities
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help give vulnerable families the means to protect themselves with water, soap, handwashing stations and information
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ensure that the Covid-19 crisis doesn’t mean people go hungry and children become malnourished.
Aid workers unload equipment after the earthquake and tsunami in Sulawesi, Indonesia in 2018. Image: Hariandi Hafid/British Red Cross
ABOUT THE DEC
When large-scale disasters hit countries without the capacity to respond, the DEC brings together 14 leading 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.
Pooling our resources to work as one, we are pivotal in co-ordinating the UK public's response to overseas disasters. In collaboration with our Rapid Response Network of national media and corporate partners, we raise the alarm to the UK public and set up easy ways for them to donate.
And we have immediate impact, getting aid to people who need it, fast.
Since our launch in 1963
73
appeals launched for major disasters overseas
£1.7 billion
raised, saving countless lives and rebuilding communities
