Disasters Emergency Committee launches Myanmar appeal

More than 500,000 Rohingya, consisting mostly of women and children, have fled the country to neighbouring Bangladesh

The Disasters Emergency Committee has launched a new emergency appeal to help thousands of Rohingya Muslims fleeing Myanmar.

More than 500,000 Rohingya, the majority of which are women and children, have left Rakhine state in Myanmar following alleged state persecution to seek sanctuary in neighbouring Bangladesh.

The DEC campaign is raising money to provide shelter, medical care, water and food for those leaving Myanmar, and for the Rohingya already living in makeshift shelters in Bangladesh.

The DEC, which is a collaboration of 13 major humanitarian aid charities including ActionAid, the British Red Cross, Oxfam and Tearfund, is launching the appeal today and will broadcast television advertisements on all of the UK’s major broadcasters.

The UK government will match the first £3m donated to the DEC appeal by the public, and a dedicated phone line has been set up.

Saleh Saeed, chief executive of the DEC, said: “People are arriving exhausted and traumatised into already overcrowded camps in Bangladesh. This is one of the fastest movements of people we have seen in recent decades. 

“Families are living in makeshift shelters or by the side of the road with no clean drinking water, toilets or washing facilities. This humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding in a country that is already reeling from the worst floods in decades.

“Without urgent support, the risk of disease and further misery is alarmingly high.”

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Armed forces and emergency services charities invited to apply for Libor fine funds

The Treasury has not announced how much money is available and it is likely this will not be known until applications have been assessed

– This article was corrected on 22 June 2017; please see final paragraph

Armed forces and emergency services charities have been invited to apply for grants from the latest round of Libor fine funding.

The government has been giving selected charities and good causes funds raised from banks that were fined for illegally fixing the inter-bank lending rate, or Libor, in 2012.

In the latest round of funding, which opened to applications today, charities and community interest companies can apply for grants for projects that will support serving or former members of the armed forces or the emergency services and their families.

The Treasury, which is managing the fund, has not announced how much funding is available and the exact amount is not expected to be finalised until all the applications have been assessed.

The government has given out more than £700m in Libor fine funding since 2012.

There is no upper funding limit for applications and guidance put out by the Treasury says some projects might be funded in part if full funding is not possible. 

Organisations can bid alone or in partnership, with one partner deemed to be the lead organisation.

The Treasury said its assessment criteria included the difference each project would make to the armed forces and emergency services communities, the value for money it offered and how sustainable it was.

Applicants that ask for funding for a capital project would have to have match-funding of at least 50 per cent, the Treasury said.

The department said some projects would not be funded in this round, including those that focused on the delivery of emergency services, those focused primarily on heritage and conservation activities or those where the primary beneficiaries were members of the public.

The closing date for applications, which must be submitted online, is noon on 25 August. Final decisions will be made in November.

For more information and to apply, click here.

– The story originally said projects would be funded either in full or not at all.

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