UK government to match £10 million public donations to Afghanistan appeal

The UK government will match the first £10 million of donations from the British public to the Disasters Emergency Committee’s (DEC) Afghanistan Appeal, to provide life-saving humanitarian aid.

Money raised from the appeal will support the critical work of 13 leading British charities and their local partners, helping them to provide emergency food and nutrition to children, support healthcare facilities and deliver winter kits to displaced families. The charities will also supply clean drinking water and protect women and girls.

The World Food Programme has warned over half the Afghan population are facing acute hunger and are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance this winter.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said:

The British people have shown incredible generosity and the UK is determined to do all we can for the people of Afghanistan. We have doubled our aid this year to save lives, protect women and girls and support stability in the region.

The support is part of the £286 million the UK has pledged to give to Afghanistan this year. £125 million has already been allocated through the UN and aid agencies to support more than 3.4 million people with emergency food, health, shelter, water and protection.

UK aid funding will be channelled through trusted partners with significant experience delivering humanitarian aid in fragile contexts and conflict-affected states. No funding will go directly to the Taliban.

At the G7 meetings in Liverpool last week the Foreign Secretary called for greater international cooperation to tackle the humanitarian crisis, preserve regional stability, protect the gains of the last 20 years and to stress to the Taliban the essential need for Afghan girls of all ages to go back to school.

• the UK government will match, pound for pound, the first £10 million of public donations to the DEC Afghanistan Appeal through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s UK Aid Match scheme.
• donations can be made at www.dec.org.uk or by calling 0370 60 60 900.
• through UK Aid Match the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office gives the British public the opportunity to have a say in how the UK aid budget is spent whilst boosting the impact of the very best British charities to change and save the lives of some of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people. UK Government match funding will double British public’s own donations to the DEC appeal up to £10 million and will ensure that DEC member charities working on the ground can reach even more people in need
• UK Aid Match has increased the impact of a number of DEC appeals to help those in need around the world, including most recently to support people affected by the coronavirus pandemic in fragile states and refugee camps as part of the DEC’s Coronavirus Appeal in 2020
• through UK Aid Match, FCDO gives the British public the opportunity to decide how the UK aid budget is spent and support people in desperate need by matching their donations pound-for-pound
• about the DEC: When large-scale disasters hit countries without the capacity to respond, the DEC brings together 15 leading UK aid charities to raise funds quickly and efficiently. In these times of crisis, people in life-and-death situations need our help and our mission is to save, protect and rebuild lives through effective humanitarian response. The DEC’s 15 member charities are: Action Against Hunger, ActionAid UK, Age International, British Red Cross, CAFOD, CARE International UK, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide UK, International Rescue Committee UK, Islamic Relief Worldwide, Oxfam GB, Plan International UK, Save the Children UK, Tearfund and World Vision UK
• thirteen of the DEC’s 15 members are responding in Afghanistan, either directly or through national affiliates or trusted local partners, and will receive funds from this appeal. They are Action Against Hunger, ActionAid UK, Age International, British Red Cross, CAFOD, CARE International UK, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide UK, International Rescue Committee UK, Islamic Relief Worldwide, Save the Children UK, Tearfund and World Vision UK
• at the G7 meetings last week the Foreign Secretary announced £75 million funding, which follows an announcement on 31 October of the allocation of £50 million for humanitarian aid, as well as the previous Foreign Secretary’s announcement on September 3 of the allocation of up to £30 million for Afghan refugees in the region