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ViewsAugust 26th, 2014
Since the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Gaza Crisis Appeal was launched on 8th August, with TV adverts screened on all major broadcasters a total of £10m has been raised. Kirsty Davies, Chair of DEC Cymru Gaza Appeal talks about the importance of such appeals and what DEC is all about.
The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) came into force over fifty years ago in 1963.
Its mission was simple; to strengthen and maximise humanitarian efforts wherever and whenever it was needed by bringing 13 leading UK aid charities together in times of crisis.
Since then more than £1.1 billion has been raised over 64 appeals with numbers ranging from £79 million raised for the East Africa appeal, £107 million for the people of Haiti after it was struck by an earthquake in 2010 and a record-breaking £392 million for the 2004 Tsunami Appeal.
With the understanding that ‘together we are stronger’ there are three key questions that are then asked before an appeal is launched 1) Does the scale and urgency of the disaster call for decisive action? 2) Are our member agencies in a position to provide effective and swift humanitarian assistance? 3) Will the public support us?
Having witnessed the harrowing images and news stories coming from Gaza since the latest conflict began over four weeks ago it was of no surprise to me that DEC decided that this criteria had been met and that a national appeal would be launched to help those affected.
Even before the conflict began the people of Gaza were close to breaking point, with 80% of the population dependent on aid. But what we are now seeing is a humanitarian emergency affecting virtually every man, woman and child in Gaza, with over half a million people forced from their homes and one and a half million people with no or very limited access to water or sanitation. Many people are living in terribly overcrowded UN shelters, but they still need food and basic household items which we take for granted. Many are in urgent need of medical care, but hospital supplies are almost finished.
Having recently become Head of Oxfam Cymru it was a new experience for me to be asked to step in as Chair of DEC Cymru for this Gaza Crisis Appeal. It became apparent from the outset that our biggest challenge would be to spread the word about the massive humanitarian need, which can only be met with substantial international assistance and to urge the Welsh public to give generously, as they have always done in previous appeals.
So thank you the people of Wales!
You have once again dug deep in to your pockets enabling the DEC Cymru member agencies – Christian Aid, Tearfund, CAFOD, Oxfam Cymru, British Red Cross, Save the Children and Islamic Relief – to substantially step up their response, particularly during the moment of relative peace.
With the support of all major broadcasters in Wales including the BBC, ITV and S4C in broadcasting the appeal and inviting DEC members to conduct interviews on the situation, over £233,000 has already been raised here to date, showing that we will not ignore the people of Gaza in their time of need.
This money is now enabling more aid to get through. Our staff and partners are on the ground, with many aid workers from Wales amongst them, working tirelessly to provide urgent assistance to the hundreds and thousands of people.
Oxfam is delivering safe water to up to 200,000 people per day and have distributed food vouchers to 52,000 people and Save the Children has helped more than 19,000 people, including 13,000 children, with food, drinking water and psychosocial support.
ActionAid is reaching more than 3,750 people with food vouchers and providing fuel for generators to help 900 people whose homes have been destroyed; Islamic Reliefis providing water to 35,000 people, food to 14,000 people and medical care to 13 hospitals and CAFOD partners are reaching 99,000 people withwater, sanitation and hygiene kits. Meanwhile British Red Cross partners have reached over 60,000 people with medical and first aid services, and distributed vital relief items including mattresses and blankets to over 8,000 families.
However, the situation remains desperate.
More than 100,000 people have had their homes severely damaged or even completely destroyed. Hospitals and medical teams are operating under immense strain as they try to respond to the vast number of people in need of medical care. Over 10,000 people have been injured, nearly a third of them children.
Further funds are urgently needed and we were pleased when the First Minister, Carwyn Jones pledged his support to the DEC Gaza Crisis Appeal urging the Welsh public to keep on donating.
In a statement he commented: “Many of us will have seen the pictures coming out of Gaza, showing children and families facing so many difficulties. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes and are in desperate need of food, water, shelter and medical care
“The best way people in Wales can ensure that they get help to those in the most desperate need is to donate via the Disasters Emergencies Committee Gaza Crisis Appeal.”
Inevitably, as other high profile events and news stories draw the media’s attention, we as DEC Cymru members have had to find additional ways of reaching the public.
Thousands of people flocked to the National Eisteddfod in Carmarthenshire last week and we were extremely grateful to the organisers for supporting the appeal and allowing bucket collections to be held at the main entrance which raised over £1500 in one afternoon.
Bucket collections were also held at Pride Cymru on Saturday, where people didn’t fail to amaze us with their generosity adding a further £1200 to the appeal- again we could not have done this without the support of the organisers.
We are determined, with the Welsh public’s support, to prevent this crisis from spiralling out of control. Every pound will make a difference with £50 enough to feed five families for a day and £100 providing an emergency shelter kit and blankets for one family. Together we are stronger.
Kirsty Davies is Chair of DEC Cymru Gaza Appeal
To make a donation to the DEC Gaza Crisis Appeal visit www.dec.org.uk, call the 24 hour hotline on 0370 60 60 900, or donate over the counter at any high street bank or post office, or send a cheque. You can also donate £5 by texting the word SUPPORT to 70000.
