Disasters Emergency Committee

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The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) is an umbrella group [1] of UK charities [2] which coordinates and launches collective appeals to raise funds to provide emergency aid and rapid relief to people caught up in disasters and humanitarian crises around the world. Since being formed in 1963, the DEC has had strong relationships with major UK broadcasters in particular the BBC and ITV, who provide airtime to broadcast emergency appeals upon its recommendation. [3] It is a member of the global Emergency Appeals Alliance, which reports that since its first television appeal in 1966, the DEC has raised over £1.4 billion. [3]

Contents

The DEC is a registered charity (charity no: 1062638) [4] with 15 charity members all with associated disaster relief capabilities such as providing clean water, humanitarian aid and medical care.

The charity came to increased prominence during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine when people donated to the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.

Notable DEC appeals

The first DEC appeal was run for victims of an earthquake in Turkey in 1966. [5]

In 2004, the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) ran UK television appeals and telephone lines for donations following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, which raised a record £392m in public donations, [6]

Between January and July 2010, the DEC appealed for donations following the 2010 Haiti earthquake, raising a total of £107 million. [7]

On 22 January 2009, the BBC declined a request from the DEC to screen an appeal to raise money to aid relief efforts for victims of conflict in the Gaza Strip, as they felt supporting the appeal would effectively mean the BBC taking a political stance on the Gaza conflict. [8] This decision was the object of considerable controversy within the BBC [9] as it is the only time the BBC is known to have refused such a request from the DEC; the 2009 Gaza appeal in question was screened by Channel 4 and ITV and raised £8.3m. [10] Since then, the BBC has broadcast other DEC aid appeals for people in Gaza, without similar controversy. The DEC August 2014 Gaza appeal shown by the BBC helped to raise £16m over two years. [11]

On the launch of its appeal in October 2017 for Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar to Bangladesh, the UK Government pledged to double public donations up to £3 million. [12] Similarly, a pledge to match public donations up to £20 million was made by the UK Government in 2022 in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. [13]

Notable fundraising events for the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal

In March 2022, Royal Ballet star Ivan Putrov directed Dance For Ukraine alongside Romanian ballet dancer Alina Cojocaru.[ citation needed ] The event took place at the London Coliseum on 19 March and raised £140,000 for DEC's Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. [14]

On 29 March 2022, Concert for Ukraine took place at Resorts World Arena in Birmingham and it aired on ITV. It was presented by Capital FM presenter Roman Kemp, Marvin Humes and Emma Bunton. ITV pledged people to donate to DEC's Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.[ citation needed ] Artists included Snow Patrol, Tom Odell, Ed Sheeran and Camilla Cabello and the show ran for two hours.[ citation needed ] More than £13.4 million was donated by midday the day after the concert.[ citation needed ]

Member charities of the Disasters Emergency Committee

As of December 2021, the committee's member organisations are: [15]

List of DEC appeals

Recent [16] and archive [17] DEC appeals.

DateLocationAppeal reasonAmount raised
August 1966Turkey Earthquake £560,000
June 1967Middle East War £160,000
February 1968Vietnam War £360,000
September 1968Iran Earthquake £210,000
November 1968Nigeria War £240,000
October 1969Algeria and TunisiaFloods£90,000
November 1969Yugoslavia Earthquake £60,000
March 1970Turkey Earthquake £370,000
June 1970Peru Earthquake £230,000
June 1970Romania Floods £110,000
November 1970East Pakistan (Bangladesh) Cyclone £1,490,000
June 1971India and Pakistan War £1,420,000
December 1972Nicaragua Earthquake £340,000
October 1973Ethiopia and the Sahel Drought £1,540,000
September 1974Honduras Hurricane £350,000
February 1976Guatemala Earthquake £1,300,000
September 1979Indo-China War £560,000
November 1979India Cyclone £870,000
June 1980East AfricaDrought£6,100,000
March 1982Central America War £430,000
July 1982Lebanon War £1,030,000
March 1983Ethiopia Famine £1,970,000
June 1984Africa Famine £9,520,000
October 1984Ethiopia Famine £5,250,000
May 1985Bangladesh Cyclone £1,400,000
June 1987Mozambique War/Drought £2,480,000
December 1987Ethiopia Famine £2,690,000
August 1988Sudan Floods £8,890,000
September 1988Bangladesh Floods £5,810,000
September 1988Caribbean Hurricane £1,000,000
December 1989Ethiopia Famine £10,240,000
September 1990Gulf War £3,490,000
January 1991Africa£7,930,000
May 1991Bangladesh Cyclone £3,520,000
June 1991Africa£2,600,000
September 1992Africa£17,300,000
October 1993Africa£2,530,000
February 1994Yugoslavia War £2,600,000
May 1994Rwanda War/Genocide £37,000,000
May 1998Sudan Famine £10,500,000
September 1998Bangladesh Floods £5,500,000
November 1998Central America Hurricane £18,500,000
April 1999Kosovo War £53,000,000
November 1999India Cyclone £7,000,000
March 2000Mozambique Floods £30,000,000
February 2001India Earthquake £24,000,000
January 2002DR Congo Volcano £4,650,000
July 2002Southern AfricaFamine£16,000,000
August 2003Liberia War £2,500,000
July 2004Sudan War £35,000,000
December 2004Asia Tsunami/Earthquake £392,000,000
August 2005Niger Famine £32,000,000
October 2005India and Pakistan Earthquake £59,000,000
May 2007Darfur and Chad War £13,600,000
November 2007Bangladesh Cyclone £9,000,000
May 2008Myanmar (Burma) Cyclone £19,500,000
November 2008DR CongoWar£10,500,000
January 2009Gaza War £8,300,000
October 2009Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam Typhoon/Earthquake/Typhoon £9,300,000
January 2010Haiti Earthquake £107,000,000
August 2010Pakistan Floods £71,000,000
July 2011East Africa Drought/Famine £79,000,000
March 2013Syria War £27,000,000
November 2013Philippines Typhoon £96,000,000
August 2014Gaza War £19,000,000
October 2014West Africa Epidemic (Ebola)£37,000,000
April 2015Nepal Earthquake £87,000,000
December 2016Yemen War/Famine£30,000,000
March 2017East Africa Drought/Famine £66,000,000
October 2017Bangladesh (Rohingya from Myanmar) Refugees/Genocide£30,000,000
October 2018Indonesia Tsunami/Earthquake/Landslide £29,000,000
March 2019Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe Cyclone £43,000,000
July 2020Afghanistan, Bangladesh, DR Congo, India, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Yemen Pandemic (COVID-19)£62,000,000
December 2021AfghanistanCovid 19/Famine £50,000,000
March 2022Ukraine War £420,000,000 at 15 November 2023 – ongoing
September 2022Pakistan Floods £48,000,000 at 15 November 2023 – ongoing
February 2023Turkey, Syria Earthquake £150,000,000 at 15 November 2023 – ongoing

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References

  1. ↑ "How we work". Disasters Emergency Committee. 30 January 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  2. ↑ "The Charity Commission – GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Disasters Emergency Committee, UK – Emergency Appeals Alliance". Emergency Appeals Alliance. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  4. ↑ "Charity overview" . Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  5. ↑ "Appeals Archive". Disasters Emergency Committee. 26 November 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  6. ↑ Kweifio-Okai, Carla (25 December 2014). "Where did the Indian Ocean tsunami aid money go?". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  7. ↑ "Haiti Earthquake Appeal". Disasters Emergency Committee. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
  8. ↑ "BBC Trust backs Thompson over Gaza appeal". The Independent. 19 February 2009. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  9. ↑ Holmwood, Leigh (26 January 2009). "BBC staff protest over decision not to show Gaza aid appeal". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  10. ↑ "Appeals Archive". Disasters Emergency Committee. 26 November 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  11. ↑ "Gaza Crisis Appeal". Disasters Emergency Committee. 8 August 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  12. ↑ "Disasters Emergency Committee appeal for people fleeing Burma reaches £3 million with UK aid support – GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  13. ↑ "Key facts" . Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  14. ↑ Craine, Debra (22 March 2022). "Dance for Ukraine review — a fundraising gala of incredible skill and spirit". The Times . ISSN   0140-0460 . Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  15. ↑ "How we work". Disasters Emergency Committee. 30 January 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  16. ↑ "Appeals". Disasters Emergency Committee. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  17. ↑ "Appeals Archive". Disasters Emergency Committee. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
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