£1m for Disasters Emergency Committee Covid appeal raised in Wales

MORE than £1m has been raised in Wales so far for the Disasters Emergency Committee’s coronavirus appeal, it has been confirmed.

But more is needed to mitigate the disastrous impact of the pandemic in some of the poorest parts of the world.

The pandemic is pushing people in fragile states towards catastrophe, with hunger levels rising dramatically and famine looming in several countries, according to a report published today by the DEC’s coalition of leading UK aid agencies.

It finds that the pandemic has worsened the already dire humanitarian situation in fragile states such as Syria, Yemen and South Sudan, with aid workers saying they expect it to deteriorate further in the coming months.

The economic impact of the virus has left people unable to afford food and other essentials, they said, with thousands likely to die from hunger this year in several countries.

As the anniversary of Covid-19 being declared a global pandemic nears, the report provides stark new evidence of the impact of the virus on people in countries with high levels of conflict, displacement and humanitarian need, and paints a devastating picture of the outlook for the year ahead in these places.

The report covers six of the world’s most fragile states: Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Somalia, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen, and also reviews the situation in the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh.

It concludes that support for the poorest communities with cash grants, vouchers for food and direct food aid such as supplies of rice, beans and lentils should be priori