£50m donated to DEC East Africa Crisis Appeal in three weeks
Howard Lake | 6 April 2017 | News
A total of £50 million has been donated to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC)’s East Africa Food Crisis in just three weeks.
The appeal was launched by the partnership of 13 UK charities to help the 16 million people in South Sudan, Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia who are on the brink of starvation and in urgent need of help.
The appeal was launched on 15 March by well-known figures including Bill Nighy, Sir Mo Farrah, Eddie Redmayne and Brenda Blethyn and Matt Baker. Donations have been received from individuals, corporations, trusts, schools and community and faith groups.
The UK Government has also matched pound for pound £10 million donated by the public to the appeal through its Aid Match Fund. Following early strong support for the appeal the original matched giving sum of £5 million was doubled to £10 million.
The Government matched first £5 million and then up to £10 million in donations to the appeal.
DEC CEO Saleh Saeed said:
“Thanks to the bravery and resilience of both local aid workers and community volunteers, life-saving food aid, medical assistance and vital water supplies are reaching the people who need it most…
“We are so incredibly grateful to all who have supported the appeal for their kindness and for their generosity to people who are thousands of miles away. Sadly, this crisis is worsening and we must do more. If you haven’t donated yet, please don’t delay donate today.”
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.