Modern Slavery Act Statement 2025
Introduction
The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) has zero-tolerance to any kind of support or enabling of slavery or human-trafficking and is committed to ensuring that neither take place within our organisation, within our supply chain, or by our member charities.
DEC’s structure
The DEC brings together 15 leading UK aid agencies (‘our members’) to raise money at times of humanitarian crisis overseas. Pooling our resources to work as one, the DEC is 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, the DEC’s raises the alarm to the UK public and set up easy ways for them to donate. Money raised from the appeals is allocated to our member agencies, who are experts in humanitarian aid, based on each member’s ability to deliver aid where it is needed. The DEC is governed by a board of trustees, which includes the chief executives of all our members and six independent trustees, with a permanent staff of 46 (with support from freelancers and agencies), i.e., the ‘DEC secretariat’, to carry out the day-to-day running of the organisation.
DEC’s Governance and Policies
The DEC actively assesses its risks, both from a core charity perspective, but also for each fundraising appeal that we launch, in collaboration with our members. Our risk management is overseen by the DEC’s Audit, Finance and Risk Committee of the DEC’s Board of Trustees. The charity has a range of policies and processes in place to help mitigate various risks identified in its assessments, for example covering financial crime prevention, procurement, due diligence, and safeguarding.
The DEC requires all staff, consultants, board members, volunteers and suppliers to act in compliance with all applicable laws (including those relating to modern slavery), and conduct themselves in a manner that prioritises wellbeing, and preserves the dignity, respect and equality of every individual, including people affected by crises for which the DEC raises funds. Our policies, such as our Code of Conduct and Vulnerable Persons Policy reflect that expectation.
All DEC staff have access to training on Modern Slavery.
Our risk management approach is currently being reviewed by our Risk and Compliance Manager, a new role appointed in October 2025, with a view to identify ways we can further strengthen our controls as needed.
DEC’s Supply Chain
The DEC is committed to ensuring that there is no modern slavery or human trafficking in our supply chains or in any part of our business. Given the nature of our business, our supply chain is limited, and we assess the risk of slavery or human trafficking occurring in our supply chain to be low.
The DEC carries out procurement predominately in the UK to support our operations, in line with our Procurement Policy requirements. Most of our suppliers provide goods and services in connection with our office facilities, recruitment, fundraising, marketing, technology and other professional services. Internationally, DEC funds are utilised by its members in delivering humanitarian support.
DEC’s Members
The DEC and its member charities undertake our work in line with our Operations Manual, which outlines the standards to which the member agencies adhere, which align to the principles outlined above. We have a defined agreed process in place for members to report suspicious incidents to the DEC, to enable effective oversight and monitoring of any issues arising in the utilisation of DEC funds. Oversight of our members engagement as part of the DEC is undertaken by the Membership and Accountability Committee of the DEC’s Board of Trustees.
Incidents
The DEC’s year end is 31 March. We had no reports of modern slavery or human trafficking in our operations or in those of our members in 2024/25.
Review and approval
This statement has been approved by the DEC’s trustees, and signed by:
Saleh Saeed, DEC Chief Executive
The previous version of the statement is available here.