Huge support from the UK
More than £400m has been raised by the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) for Ukraine through its appeal which launched almost 11 months ago.
Donations from community groups, companies, foundations and millions of individual donors from the UK public, makes the DEC the biggest charity donor to the Ukraine humanitarian response in the world, according to UN OCHA’s Financial Tracking Service.
The appeal is second only to its 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami appeal, which raised £668m in today’s money
The first tranche of the appeal funds - £85 million - were spent by 13 DEC member charities in the initial six months.
Almost 60% was spent in Ukraine, the rest in Romania (17%), Poland, (16%) Moldova (4%), Hungary (2%) and on regional initiatives (2%).
Almost half of aid expenditure (47%) was on direct cash payments to aid recipients, followed by food and health support.
DEC funds also paid for 75,000 trauma kits so that civilians could treat injuries or control bleeding until professional medical equipment could be sought.
DEC chief executive Saleh Saeed said: “The crisis has been so huge, so widespread and so devastating that we wanted to take the time to detail how donations have helped different people at every stage of the year.
“What’s more, the level of funds raised mean that we can keep providing that support, as we know that this crisis is far from over with needs developing and changing all the time as the situation unfolds.
“I’d like to thank each and every person who has donated, fundraised, got their company or organisation involved. The response has been truly remarkable and we are so grateful for the support.”
DEC charities helped with the most pressing needs of food, warm clothes and basic items such as toothbrushes and nappies at border crossings and reception centres, and sorted out temporary and longer-term accommodation.
Later, cash payments allowed refugees to choose to buy what they needed.
DEC charities and their partners have also contributed to preventing large-scale exploitation of vulnerable groups throughout the crisis by providing protection services, supporting the tracking and registration of new arrivals and referring people for further support, said the report.
