Comic Relief to give £250k to support charities helping people in Yemen
Howard Lake | 16 December 2016 | News
Comic Relief today announced that it will give £250,000 to support organisations working to help starving people in Yemen, including children at severe risk of malnutrition. The pledge comes after the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) announced its Yemen Crisis Appeal this week.
Comic Relief is not a humanitarian response agency but it does have close partnerships with the DEC and organisations that provide emergency aid. When humanitarian emergencies take hold, and disrupt and threaten a great numbers of people’s lives, it liaises with its partners to assess the situation. The charity can make grants in exceptional circumstances like this, if it judges that these funds can make a real difference.
In this situation, Comic Relief’s grant will help the ongoing work of DEC agencies to provide humanitarian support and assistance to many more people in Yemen.
Yemen, which is already one of the world’s poorest countries, has experienced nearly two years of war. The economy has almost collapsed, hospitals, schools and farms have been destroyed and almost half a million children need immediate treatment for malnutrition.
Today, we have pledged £250,000 to @decappeal to help reach those affected by the #YemenCrisis https://t.co/LNd7FN0NhI pic.twitter.com/Tp7INXJ1N9
— Comic Relief (@comicrelief) December 16, 2016
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Jennie Richmond, Head of International Grants at Comic Relief explained why the charity decided to make the grant. She said:
“We are deeply concerned about the crisis in Yemen, which is why we have decided to respond to the appeal from the DEC. The funds raised will help agencies working in Yemen to provide vital support and lifesaving aid to people in desperate need across the country.
“Our contribution will help provide aid to those in urgent need and we are also encouraging the general public to support this appeal, so that the agencies on the ground can reach as many people as possible.”
The UK Government is also supporting the DEC appeal and will match donations from members of the UK public up to a total value of £5 million in match funding.
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.