Government to match £2m more for DEC appeal for people fleeing Myanmar
Howard Lake | 12 October 2017 | News
The UK government is to match a further £2 million of public donations to the Disasters Emergency Committee’s appeal for people fleeing Myanmar.
At the launch of the appeal the government pledged to match the first £3 million in donations from the public. Now it has done so, and the appeal total has reached £9 million, it has pledged an additional £2 million.
The announcement was made by Priti Patel, the Secretary of State for International Development, during a visit to DEC headquarters in central London earlier today.
BREAKING: Secretary of State @patel4witham announces @DFID_UK #AidMatch increased to £5million for DEC appeal! pic.twitter.com/ZsFHcj3WXX
— DEC (@decappeal) October 12, 2017
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DEC Chief Executive Saleh Saeed said: “We are delighted that the next £2m donated by the British public will be matched by the Government, in addition to the £3m already donated.
“We have been overwhelmed by the generosity of people in the UK during this emergency appeal and hope that this announcement will inspire even more people to give, knowing that whatever they donate will be matched pound for pound.”
Work funded
The DEC emergency appeal is enabling its member charities to continue to help the estimated 519,000 men, women and children who have fled to Bangladesh.
Oxfam has reached 180,000 people with clean drinking water, portable toilets and other essential supplies; Concern Worldwide are on the ground providing 48,000 people with food rations with two nutrition centres up and running and a third under construction, and more than 1,000 people have been reconnected with their families through the Red Cross.
The DEC’s last appeal for support in Myanmar, formerly Burma, was in 2008 following a cyclone. It raised £8 million in the first two weeks.
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.