The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) is an umbrella group of UK charities 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. 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.

The DEC is a registered charity (charity no: 1062638) 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.

Notable DEC appeals The first DEC appeal was run for victims of an earthquake in Turkey in 1966.

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,

Between January and July 2010, the DEC appealed for donations following the 2010 Haiti earthquake, raising a total of £107 million.

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. This decision was the object of considerable controversy within the BBC 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. 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 £19m over two years.

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. 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.

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, with some reporting this was due to fears a backlash from supporters of Israel in its war with Hamas.

Notable fundraising events for the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal

In March 2022, Royal Ballet star Ivan Putrov directed Dance For Ukraine alongside Romanian ballet dancer Alina Cojocaru. The event took place at the London Coliseum on 19 March and raised £140,000 for DEC's Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.

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. Artists included Snow Patrol, Tom Odell, Ed Sheeran and Camila Cabello and the show ran for two hours. More than £13.4 million was donated by midday the day after the concert.

Member charities of the Disasters Emergency Committee

, the committee's member organisations are:

List of DEC appeals Recent DEC appeals. Date Location Appeal reason Amount raised Turkey Earthquake £560,000 Middle East War £160,000 Vietnam War £360,000 Iran Earthquake £210,000 Nigeria War £240,000 Algeria and Tunisia Floods £90,000 Yugoslavia Earthquake £60,000 Turkey Earthquake £370,000 Peru Earthquake £230,000 Romania Floods £110,000 East Pakistan (Bangladesh) Cyclone £1,490,000 India and Pakistan War £1,420,000 Nicaragua Earthquake £340,000 Ethiopia and the Sahel Drought £1,540,000 Honduras Hurricane £350,000 Guatemala Earthquake £1,300,000 Indo-China War £560,000 India Cyclone £870,000 East Africa Drought £6,100,000 Central America War £430,000 Lebanon War £1,030,000 Ethiopia Famine £1,970,000 Africa Famine £9,520,000 Ethiopia Famine £5,250,000 Bangladesh Cyclone £1,400,000 Mozambique War/Drought £2,480,000 Ethiopia Famine £2,690,000 Sudan Floods £8,890,000 Bangladesh Floods £5,810,000 Caribbean Hurricane £1,000,000 Ethiopia Famine £10,240,000 Gulf War £3,490,000 Africa £7,930,000 Bangladesh Cyclone £3,520,000 Africa £2,600,000 Africa £17,300,000 Africa £2,530,000 Yugoslavia War £2,600,000 Rwanda War/Genocide £37,000,000 Sudan Famine £10,500,000 Bangladesh Floods £5,500,000 Central America Hurricane £18,500,000 Kosovo War £53,000,000 India Cyclone £7,000,000 Mozambique Floods £30,000,000 India Earthquake £24,000,000 DR Congo Volcano £4,650,000 Southern Africa Famine £16,000,000 Liberia War £2,500,000 Sudan War £35,000,000 Asia Tsunami/Earthquake £392,000,000 Niger Famine £32,000,000 India and Pakistan Earthquake £59,000,000 Darfur and Chad War £13,600,000 Bangladesh Cyclone £9,000,000 Myanmar (Burma) Cyclone £19,500,000 DR Congo War £10,500,000 Gaza War £8,300,000 Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam Typhoon/Earthquake/Typhoon £9,300,000 Haiti Earthquake £107,000,000 Pakistan Floods £71,000,000 East Africa Drought/Famine £79,000,000 Syria War £27,000,000 Philippines Typhoon £96,000,000 Gaza War £19,000,000 West Africa Epidemic (Ebola) £37,000,000 Nepal Earthquake £87,000,000 Yemen War/Famine £30,000,000 East Africa Drought/Famine £66,000,000 Bangladesh (Rohingya from Myanmar) Refugees/Genocide £30,000,000 Indonesia Tsunami/Earthquake/Landslide £29,000,000 Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe Cyclone £43,000,000 Afghanistan, Bangladesh, DR Congo, India, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Yemen Pandemic (COVID-19) £62,000,000 Afghanistan COVID-19/Famine £51,800,000 Ukraine War £445,000,000 Pakistan Floods £50,000,000 Turkey, Syria Earthquake £160,000,000 Gaza, Lebanon, West Bank, Syria War/Famine £65,000,000 at – ongoing Myanmar Earthquake £28,000,000 Venezuela Earthquake £15,000,000 at – ongoing

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