A camp resident near Goma in DR Congo is able to access clean water as part of Tearfund's water, sanitation and hygiene programmes.
A camp resident in DR Congo washes her hands with support from a Tearfund project

Coronavirus
Appeal

Coronavirus
Appeal

A camp resident near Goma in DR Congo is able to access clean water as part of Tearfund's water, sanitation and hygiene programmes. Photo: Arlette Bashizi/DEC

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Key facts

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£62 million

raised for this appeal, including £10 million matched by the UK Government. Thank you!

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8 countries

across which donations are being spent - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, DR Congo, India, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen

The pandemic has been particularly devastating for many vulnerable communities around the world.

Our Coronavirus Appeal is funding work in eight countries - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, DR Congo, India, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen, where millions of people have little access to medical care or clean water, making them much more vulnerable to the virus. 

But in many countries the economic effects of the pandemic have been even more deadly than the virus itself as millions of people are being pushed towards famine due to falling incomes and rising food prices. Hunger can be particularly devastating for children, leading to malnutrition which in the worst cases can be fatal. 

Save the Children aid workers deliver food to families in India

Save the Children staff deliver aid at a relief distribution camp in West Bengal in India, which was hit by the worst outbreak of Covid-19 in spring 2021. Photo: Avijit Ghosh/DEC

Hebdavi Muhindo from Tearfund, DRC

Your donations have saved lives

Watch the video

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Watch Thank you for supporting the DEC Coronavirus Appeal. Your donations have helped save lives. on YouTube.

REPORTS

Find out more about how donations were used by DEC member charities and what lessons were learned from this response.

£62 million raised

for this appeal, including £10 million matched by the UK Government.

“Covid-19 has made the future for Yemen worse - the number of hungry people is climbing higher and higher” 

6 December 2021

Mohammed, an Oxfam aid worker in Yemen

“When Covid-19 arrived, our hospitals were just too weak and ill prepared to cope. Seven years of war in Yemen destroyed half of our health infrastructure and many doctors haven’t received salaries for four or five years.

Ever since the beginning of the pandemic, people here have been panicking. They haven’t known where to go or how to get help. 

The future looks very bad, with Covid, or without Covid. But from what we've seen in Yemen, the number of hungry people will climb higher and higher – that is for sure."

“If people in Syria go out, they are in danger from the conflict and Covid-19”

5 December 2021

Shahinaz (left) speaks to residents in a camp for displaced people Maaret Misrin, Syria.

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.

“We have seen many tough things in Syria over this last year, but the worst thing was Covid-19. A lot of hospitals are closed and because there are no beds, no oxygen, no place for people to be treated, people died outside or at home without any medical care. 

It’s coming to winter now, and cold and harsh weather is arriving. People need medical care, food and they desperately need warm clothes, blankets, and tarpaulins to protect their children from the rain and cold."

“Covid-19 has changed many things in India, leaving people struggling with hunger”

5 December 2021

Susmita (left) interacts with students during a class at a Multi Activity Centre in West Bengal, India.

People are left with the psychological trauma of losing loved ones and are struggling to earn a living, writes Susmita Guha, Senior Manager West Bengal, Save the Children India.

"We can see that Covid has changed many things – many small industries have shut down and thousands of people have lost their livelihoods. Covid goes on, but the biggest challenge now is for people to earn money – they’re struggling with hunger.  

It breaks my heart to see how the children from marginalised communities are suffering - with their education, their health, nutrition, and their mental wellbeing. I feel all of us who live in a better situation should offer a hand towards these children who are suffering with everything, but especially with hunger. "

“The people of DR Congo are strong, but Covid has stretched their resilience”

5 December 2021

Hebdavi, aid worker, speaks to a camp resident near Goma where Tearfund has provided water, hygiene and sanitation.

The pandemic is far from over in the DRC, but our work is saving and changing lives, writes Hebdavi Muhindo, Tearfund Country Director in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  

"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.

It’s been heart-breaking seeing people face impossible choices. Most people here rely on daily wages to survive, which means they have a tough choice to make: ‘Do I go out and risk it? I might die, I might catch the virus. But if I don’t go out, my children will almost certainly die of hunger.’   

I wake up in the morning, and sometimes it's frustrating, sometimes it hurts, but then I'm encouraged by one thing: I've seen that the work that we're doing is saving lives."