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Jane Hutt, Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip

First published:
22 January 2025
Last updated:

For over a year, conflict in the Middle East has devastated lives across the region, and millions have fled their homes in search of safety. Right now, millions of people across Gaza, Lebanon and the wider region are in urgent need of food, shelter and medical care.

The Welsh Government funds the Disasters Emergency Committee DEC Cymru to help coordinate fundraising efforts in Wales. The DEC brings together leading organisations in the UK to raise funds for overseas emergencies, coordinating an effective humanitarian response, getting aid quickly to people who need it in the most cost-effective manner possible. In October, DEC launched their Middle East Humanitarian Appeal, to which the Welsh Government donated £100,000.

DEC charities are hopeful that the ceasefire in Gaza – which began on 19 January – will provide them and their local partners with a critical opportunity to scale up their work delivering urgently needed food, shelter, water and medical care.  In Gaza, 1.8 million people are facing acute shortages of food, with soaring prices at local markets as supplies have become increasingly scarce. Cold weather and rain in recent weeks have further worsened conditions in camps, with tents flooding and cold temperatures causing sickness amid a dire shortage of medical care and widespread malnutrition.  

New aid access routes and the opportunity to use existing routes more widely because of the ceasefire will allow DEC charities and their local partners to increase the amount of food and other urgent aid they can deliver into Gaza, reaching more families in need.

For this reason, the Welsh Government will be providing a further £100,000 donation to the DEC Middle East Humanitarian Appeal.