The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) is an umbrella group [1] of UK charities [2] which coordinates and launches collective appeals to raise funds to provide emergency aid and rapid relief to people caught up in disasters and humanitarian crises around the world. Since being formed in 1963, the DEC has had strong relationships with major UK broadcasters in particular the BBC and ITV, who provide airtime to broadcast emergency appeals upon its recommendation. [3] It is a member of the global Emergency Appeals Alliance, which reports that since its first television appeal in 1966, the DEC has raised over £1.4 billion. [3]
The DEC is a registered charity (charity no: 1062638) [4] with 15 charity members all with associated disaster relief capabilities such as providing clean water, humanitarian aid and medical care.
The charity came to increased prominence during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine when people donated to the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.
The first DEC appeal was run for victims of an earthquake in Turkey in 1966. [5]
In 2004, the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) ran UK television appeals and telephone lines for donations following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, which raised a record £392m in public donations, [6]
Between January and July 2010, the DEC appealed for donations following the 2010 Haiti earthquake, raising a total of £107 million. [7]
On 22 January 2009, the BBC declined a request from the DEC to screen an appeal to raise money to aid relief efforts for victims of conflict in the Gaza Strip, as they felt supporting the appeal would effectively mean the BBC taking a political stance on the Gaza conflict. [8] This decision was the object of considerable controversy within the BBC [9] as it is the only time the BBC is known to have refused such a request from the DEC; the 2009 Gaza appeal in question was screened by Channel 4 and ITV and raised £8.3m. [10] Since then, the BBC has broadcast other DEC aid appeals for people in Gaza, without similar controversy. The DEC August 2014 Gaza appeal shown by the BBC helped to raise £16m over two years. [11]
On the launch of its appeal in October 2017 for Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar to Bangladesh, the UK Government pledged to double public donations up to £3 million. [12] Similarly, a pledge to match public donations up to £20 million was made by the UK Government in 2022 in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. [13]
In 2024, an attempted DEC appeal for humanitarian aid to address the Gaza humanitarian crisis during the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip was delayed by the BBC, reportedly due to fear of supporters of Israel. [14]
In March 2022, Royal Ballet star Ivan Putrov directed Dance For Ukraine alongside Romanian ballet dancer Alina Cojocaru.[ citation needed ] The event took place at the London Coliseum on 19 March and raised £140,000 for DEC's Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. [15]
On 29 March 2022, Concert for Ukraine took place at Resorts World Arena in Birmingham and it aired on ITV. It was presented by Capital FM presenter Roman Kemp, Marvin Humes and Emma Bunton. ITV pledged people to donate to DEC's Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.[ citation needed ] Artists included Snow Patrol, Tom Odell, Ed Sheeran and Camilla Cabello and the show ran for two hours.[ citation needed ] More than £13.4 million was donated by midday the day after the concert.[ citation needed ]
As of November 2024, the committee's member organisations are: [16]
Recent [17] and archive [18] DEC appeals.
| Date | Location | Appeal reason | Amount raised |
|---|---|---|---|
| August 1966 | Turkey | Earthquake | £560,000 |
| June 1967 | Middle East | War | £160,000 |
| February 1968 | Vietnam | War | £360,000 |
| September 1968 | Iran | Earthquake | £210,000 |
| November 1968 | Nigeria | War | £240,000 |
| October 1969 | Algeria and Tunisia | Floods | £90,000 |
| November 1969 | Yugoslavia | Earthquake | £60,000 |
| March 1970 | Turkey | Earthquake | £370,000 |
| June 1970 | Peru | Earthquake | £230,000 |
| June 1970 | Romania | Floods | £110,000 |
| November 1970 | East Pakistan (Bangladesh) | Cyclone | £1,490,000 |
| June 1971 | India and Pakistan | War | £1,420,000 |
| December 1972 | Nicaragua | Earthquake | £340,000 |
| October 1973 | Ethiopia and the Sahel | Drought | £1,540,000 |
| September 1974 | Honduras | Hurricane | £350,000 |
| February 1976 | Guatemala | Earthquake | £1,300,000 |
| September 1979 | Indo-China | War | £560,000 |
| November 1979 | India | Cyclone | £870,000 |
| June 1980 | East Africa | Drought | £6,100,000 |
| March 1982 | Central America | War | £430,000 |
| July 1982 | Lebanon | War | £1,030,000 |
| March 1983 | Ethiopia | Famine | £1,970,000 |
| June 1984 | Africa | Famine | £9,520,000 |
| October 1984 | Ethiopia | Famine | £5,250,000 |
| May 1985 | Bangladesh | Cyclone | £1,400,000 |
| June 1987 | Mozambique | War/Drought | £2,480,000 |
| December 1987 | Ethiopia | Famine | £2,690,000 |
| August 1988 | Sudan | Floods | £8,890,000 |
| September 1988 | Bangladesh | Floods | £5,810,000 |
| September 1988 | Caribbean | Hurricane | £1,000,000 |
| December 1989 | Ethiopia | Famine | £10,240,000 |
| September 1990 | Gulf | War | £3,490,000 |
| January 1991 | Africa | £7,930,000 | |
| May 1991 | Bangladesh | Cyclone | £3,520,000 |
| June 1991 | Africa | £2,600,000 | |
| September 1992 | Africa | £17,300,000 | |
| October 1993 | Africa | £2,530,000 | |
| February 1994 | Yugoslavia | War | £2,600,000 |
| May 1994 | Rwanda | War/Genocide | £37,000,000 |
| May 1998 | Sudan | Famine | £10,500,000 |
| September 1998 | Bangladesh | Floods | £5,500,000 |
| November 1998 | Central America | Hurricane | £18,500,000 |
| April 1999 | Kosovo | War | £53,000,000 |
| November 1999 | India | Cyclone | £7,000,000 |
| March 2000 | Mozambique | Floods | £30,000,000 |
| February 2001 | India | Earthquake | £24,000,000 |
| January 2002 | DR Congo | Volcano | £4,650,000 |
| July 2002 | Southern Africa | Famine | £16,000,000 |
| August 2003 | Liberia | War | £2,500,000 |
| July 2004 | Sudan | War | £35,000,000 |
| December 2004 | Asia | Tsunami/Earthquake | £392,000,000 |
| August 2005 | Niger | Famine | £32,000,000 |
| October 2005 | India and Pakistan | Earthquake | £59,000,000 |
| May 2007 | Darfur and Chad | War | £13,600,000 |
| November 2007 | Bangladesh | Cyclone | £9,000,000 |
| May 2008 | Myanmar (Burma) | Cyclone | £19,500,000 |
| November 2008 | DR Congo | War | £10,500,000 |
| January 2009 | Gaza | War | £8,300,000 |
| October 2009 | Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam | Typhoon/Earthquake/Typhoon | £9,300,000 |
| January 2010 | Haiti | Earthquake | £107,000,000 |
| August 2010 | Pakistan | Floods | £71,000,000 |
| July 2011 | East Africa | Drought/Famine | £79,000,000 |
| March 2013 | Syria | War | £27,000,000 |
| November 2013 | Philippines | Typhoon | £96,000,000 |
| August 2014 | Gaza | War | £19,000,000 |
| October 2014 | West Africa | Epidemic (Ebola) | £37,000,000 |
| April 2015 | Nepal | Earthquake | £87,000,000 |
| December 2016 | Yemen | War/Famine | £30,000,000 |
| March 2017 | East Africa | Drought/Famine | £66,000,000 |
| October 2017 | Bangladesh (Rohingya from Myanmar) | Refugees/Genocide | £30,000,000 |
| October 2018 | Indonesia | Tsunami/Earthquake/Landslide | £29,000,000 |
| March 2019 | Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe | Cyclone | £43,000,000 |
| July 2020 | Afghanistan, Bangladesh, DR Congo, India, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Yemen | Pandemic (COVID-19) | £62,000,000 |
| December 2021 | Afghanistan | Covid 19/Famine | £50,000,000 |
| March 2022 | Ukraine | War | £438,000,000 at 11 November 2024 – ongoing |
| September 2022 | Pakistan | Floods | £50,000,000 |
| February 2023 | Turkey, Syria | Earthquake | £159,000,000 |
| October 2024 | Gaza, Lebanon, West Bank | War/Famine | £25,000,000 at 11 November 2024 – ongoing |