We have launched an appeal to respond to coronavirus in seven of the world’s most fragile places. These are: Yemen, Syria, Somalia, South Sudan, DR Congo and Afghanistan, as well as the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh. DEC charities are on the ground already responding in these places but urgently need more funds to scale up their operations. Individual member charities are working in a much wider range of countries, but these seven places have been prioritised for funding from the DEC's appeal.

The work our member charities are undertaking now includes providing people with the means to protect themselves from coronavirus with soap, water, handwashing stations and information. DEC member charities are also working to provide frontline medical staff with protective equipment, medical supplies and training. They are also working with communities to make sure that Covid-19 does not lead to food insecurity, and to prevent people from going hungry and children becoming malnourished.

DEC charities have extensive experience in responding to epidemics and disease outbreaks in different and challenging contexts such as cholera in Yemen and Ebola in DR Congo and West Africa.

While we are deeply concerned for vulnerable people and frontline workers in the UK, the DEC is unable to fund domestic emergency responses because our mandate is focused on delivering humanitarian assistance in the world’s poorest countries, as is most of the work of our member charities. You can find out more about how we work here.

However, some of our member charities are also responding to coronavirus in the UK, and the National Emergencies Trust, set up last year to distribute donations in a similar way to the DEC but in times of national crisis, has also launched an appeal. You can find out more charities working in the UK here.