Monitoring
Monitoring
We are closely monitoring a number of humanitarian disasters and assessing them against our criteria for launching an appeal.
A camp for displaced people in northwest Syria in December 2020. Image: Abdul Sattar Al-Nasser/DEC
The DEC has three criteria which must be met before we launch an appeal.
We often monitor crises that don't yet meet our criteria but may do in the future. Often our member charities are responding to these crises already and we encourage people who wish to help to donate to them. Alternatively you can donate to our Emergency Fund which will support the DEC’s next appeal, whether it’s a natural disaster, disease outbreak, or a crisis fuelled by drought or conflict.
Find out more about which crises we are monitoring below.
GAZA humanitarian CRISIS
The DEC is deeply concerned about the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Almost half a million people are facing famine. An estimated 1.9 million people (over 90% of the population) are displaced, with many living in tents in cramped and unhygienic camps. More than 40,000 people have been killed in the fighting, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, and many thousands more have been injured.
Since the start of the conflict there has been limited access for humanitarian aid relative to the desperate level of need across Gaza. However, despite numerous challenges DEC member charities are working around the clock to deliver urgent humanitarian aid such as food, water and medical assistance. 14 DEC member charities have launched appeals which are listed below.
Sudan Conflict
Conflict broke out in Sudan in April 2023 and has seen intense fighting, including in the capital, Khartoum. According to the UN, around 8 million people have been displaced and almost 5 million are facing severe food shortages, with 730,000 children projected to suffer from life-threatening severe acute malnutrition.
Our members are responding inside Sudan across White and Blue Nile, Darfur, Kordofan, Khartoum, and Al Jazirah. In neighbouring countries, members are responding cross-border in Chad, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Central African Republic, supporting refugees and returnees to these countries. Response priorities include food security, protection, health, nutrition, shelter, and WASH.
The DEC is deeply concerned for the safety of civilians caught up in the fighting and the current humanitarian crisis. We are monitoring the situation closely and assessing it against our criteria for launching a national fundraising appeal in the UK.
Those criteria are not currently met, but several DEC member charities have a presence in Sudan or neighbouring countries. If you would like to help them respond and help people affected by this crisis, you can donate to the following appeals:
East Africa hunger crisis
Four successive failed rainy seasons have left parts of Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia facing a disastrous drought and severe humanitarian crisis. The World Food Programme estimates that there are 89 million people who are acutely food insecure, and 16 million children and pregnant or lactating women are now malnourished. People in the region are highly dependent on livestock, and an estimated 7 million animals have died, including 30% of all livestock in Somalia. More than 2 million people in Somalia are now one step away from famine.
The situation is being worsened by the conflict in Ukraine, which is reducing the supply of grain and driving up food prices. In East Africa, the cost of a standard food basket has increased by 46% since this time last year and 21% since the start of the conflict in Ukraine. In East Africa people spend on average between 40-60% of their income on their basic food needs, so this increase in price is having a dramatic impact on people’s ability to feed themselves.
Aid agencies, including DEC charities, are responding by providing food and clean water, treatment for malnutrition, and cash to allow people to buy essentials. This crisis does not currently meet the criteria for the DEC to launch an appeal, although we continue to monitor it closely. If you would like to help, we encourage you to donate to one of the DEC charities’ appeals below:
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