Friday 23 August 2013
The Guernsey Overseas Aid Commission has agreed to make a donation of a further £25,000 from its Disaster Emergency Relief budget to the Disaster Emergency Committee Syrian Appeal.
The Commission has been following recent events in Syria and its border regions very closely as it recognised that the humanitarian situation in this region was worsening by the week.
Today, Friday 23rd August 2013, the UN reported that the number of children who have fled the civil conflict in Syrian had exceeded 1 million.
The Commission has been advised by the DEC that, despite the conflict in Syrian several aid agencies continue to work within Syria itself. In doing so these aid workers are placing themselves at great personal risk to bring some humanitarian aid to those unable to escape the conflict.
This further donation is the Commission's third contribution to assist the agencies working to relieve the plight of those caught up in this ongoing civil conflict. In January 2013, the Commission gave £25,000 to UNICEF and in March 2013 it donated £25,000 to the DEC appeal.
Mr. Tim Peet, M.B.E., the Commission's Vice Chairman, said,
"The Commissioners have, like many Islanders, watched the daily news reports of how the civil conflict in Syria is affected the daily lives of the Syrian people. Many of the pictures are heartbreaking to watch and in making this further contribution to the DEC appeal we are confident that it will make a small but important difference in relieving the suffering of the innocent victims of the conflict, many of whom are children.
We are confident that this further donation, on behalf of the people of Guernsey, will go some way to bringing about some relief for these people."
Further information
The Guernsey Overseas Aid Commission receives an annual budget of £200,000 from the States of Guernsey for responding to disasters, humanitarian crises and other emergencies in the world's less developed countries. The Commission's policy for donations for this budget is set out below.
Commission's Disaster Emergency Relief Policy
General Policy
The Commission's general policy for making Emergency Disaster Relief awards is to support the national public appeals launched by the UK Disaster Emergency Committee following a natural disaster or humanitarian crisis.
The Commission's general policy is to limit individual awards to a DEC appeal to £50,000.
Exceptional Circumstances Policy
The Commission will also consider applications for Disaster Emergency Relief funding from individual charities outside of an appeal co-ordinated by the DEC.
In such cases the Commission will require the charity to submit a concise and comprehensive application addressing the following issues:
- Location, nature and scale of the disaster or emergency for which the funding is sought
- The impact of the disaster or emergency on the people or communities the charity is wishing to help
- The number of people directed affected by the disaster or emergency
- The resources, particularly staff, equipment and logistical support, that the charity already has in place in the region affected by the disaster or emergency
- The charity's experience of working in the region
- The charity's experience of providing emergency relief following similar events, either in the region or in other areas of the world
- How any award from the Commission would be used
- How the emergency relief will reduce the immediate suffering of those affected by the disaster or emergency or how it will mitigate further suffering
- How quickly the charity can acquire and deploy the relief aid an award from the Commission would cover
- Which other charities or international relief agencies are also responding to the disaster or emergency.
In all cases, the Commission will only consider applications from charities or international humanitarian agencies that would satisfy its general policy for applicants for Grant Aid awards.
Further, the Commission will evaluate such applications in line with the general approach as set out in its Grant Aid policy. However, the assessment and evaluation of individual awards will be tailored as may be appropriate depending on the nature, scale and location of the disaster or emergency.
In deciding whether or not to make such an award, the Commission will speak to the DEC for further information about the disaster or emergency, including an indication of whether or not the DEC is likely to launch a national appeal in the near future (i.e. within 10 to 14 days).
The final decision whether or not to approve an application will always rest with the Commission, however the advice from the DEC will be central to informing the Commission's decision.
In addition, as a general rule the Commission will not make awards to individual agencies in the following circumstances:
- Where the Commission has already made a Disaster Emergency Relief award to the DEC for the same disaster or emergency.
- The disaster or emergency has not been widely publicised through the local or national media.
- Where, having reviewed how the charity proposes to spend the award, the Commission believes that an application for Grant Aid funding would be more appropriate.
The level of awards made under the Commission's exceptional policy is the same as for DEC-led appeals, i.e. to a maximum of £50,000. In determining the level of an award under this policy the Commissioners will take into consideration the likelihood of the DEC launching an appeal for the same disaster or emergency in the near future.
Disaster Emergency Committee - www.dec.org.uk
The DEC brings 14 leading UK aid charities together in times of crisis: Action Aid, Age UK, British Red Cross, CAFOD, Care International, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide, Islamic Relief, Merlin, Oxfam, Plan UK, Save the Children, Tearfund and World Vision; all collectively raising money to reach those in need quickly.
The DEC's appeal criteria are:
The disaster must be on such a scale and of such urgency as to call for swift international humanitarian assistance
The DEC member agencies, or some of them, must be in a position to provide effective and swift humanitarian assistance at a scale to justify a national appeal
There must be reasonable grounds for concluding that a public appeal would be successful, either because of evidence of existing public sympathy for the humanitarian situation or because there is a compelling case indicating the likelihood of significant public support should an appeal be launched
The DEC uses the following classification for disasters and emergencies:
One-off Catastrophes - Such as earthquakes, which have an immediate impact on local communities. As the 2010 Haiti Earthquake Appeal showed, the general public can be extremely generous in donating to help people survive a major catastrophe. After the initial humanitarian assistance phase, members may need longer-term funding to help people rebuild their homes and villages.
Slow-onset Humanitarian Crises - Such as the 2005 crisis in Niger, and indeed this new appeal in respect of the impact the ongoing civil conflict in Syria is having on that country's population, which develop over time. For example, severe food shortages caused by complex environmental and economic factors may develop gradually over months or even years. The situation may be affected by political factors.
Complex Political Emergencies - Such as the 2008 crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which often require a longer-term intervention for which funding may not be available. This kind of humanitarian crisis may not attract much, or any, media and public attention until the situation reaches a critical point.
Contact details
Elizabeth Dene, Secretary to the Guernsey Overseas Aid Commission
Telephone - 01481 717284
Mobile - 07839 786076
Email - liz.dene@gov.gg
