UK aid provides lifeline to defenceless and wounded Syrians to help them return to a liberated Raqqa
The International Development Secretary Priti Patel has called for urgent international action to end the “death sentence” that innocent people of Raqqa city still face from explosive booby-traps and wounds inflicted by war. Continue reading Call for international action to end Raqqa “death sentence”
International Development Secretary Priti Patel has repeated calls for an end to the violence in Burma (Myanmar) which has forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes to seek safety in neighbouring Bangladesh. Recognising the ‘unprecedented scale’ of the crisis in Bangladesh and Burma, Britain is providing an additional £25 million to meet the urgent needs in both countries of those affected by the violence. Continue reading Patel calls for end to violence in Burma as more aid is sent to support stricken Rohingyas
The Scottish Government’s Humanitarian Emergency Fund is distributing £300,000 to help support people left homeless following floods that ravaged South Asia. Severe monsoon rains have affected 40 million people in Bangladesh, India and Nepal. More than 1,200 people are known to have died. Continue reading Scotland sends support to South Asia
Extra £5 million to aid mudslide vicitms
The UK is stepping up with new emergency support that will provide clean water, food and medicines to assist people in the communities worst affected by the devastating floods and mudslide in Sierra Leone, International Development Secretary Priti Patel announced today. Continue reading UK steps up Sierra Leone relief effort
‘ I term it as a monster, a monster. After all the development that has taken place, all this development has been wiped out. My whole heart is for the people, the nation.’ – Vanuatu President Baldwin Lonsdale
Britain has sent vital shelter and relief supplies to help people whose lives have been devastated by Cyclone Pam, International Development Secretary Justine Greening has announced.
A Royal Air Force C-17 transport plane departed from RAF Brize Norton in the early hours of this morning (Monday 16 March) and will travel to the Royal Australian Air Force base at Amberley in Australia, where it will join the international relief effort.
The plane is carrying 1,640 shelter kits for use by families of five people and more than 1900 solar lanterns with inbuilt mobile phone chargers. These supplies will help to provide protection to some of the most vulnerable people affected by the cyclone, especially women and children.
A humanitarian expert from the Department for International Development has also been deployed to advise on distribution of the supplies and assist with field assessments as part of the international relief effort.
The C-17 and its crew will remain in Australia for several days to undertake further support flights between Australia and affected areas as required.
Justine Greening said:
“The terrible effects of Cyclone Pam are now clear and many people are in urgent need of relief.
The Royal Air Force’s swift and invaluable support will ensure victims of the cyclone get the help they need to start putting their lives back together.
Families’ homes have been destroyed and power supplies are down. Our emergency shelter kits and solar lanterns will help meet people’s basic needs and Britain stands ready to assist further.”
All commercial flights in and out of Port Vila have been grounded, with only military planes able to land.
On Saturday 14 March, following a request from the Government of Vanuatu,Britain made up to £1 million available to UN organisations and international aid agencies in the region. The UK will also send an additional £1 million through the UK’s Rapid Response Facility, which provides emergency support via pre-approved organisations in the event of a humanitarian disaster overseas.
Cyclone Pam, a category five tropical storm, struck Vanuatu, a remote Pacific island nation – and one of the world’s least developed countries – on Saturday local time.
Two hundred mile per hour winds and torrential rain has caused widespread destruction, particularly in Port Vila, Vanuatu’s capital. Communication networks have been severely disrupted by power outages and much of the infrastructure system across the archipelago has been destroyed.
Vanuatu’s President Baldwin Lonsdale said the the impact of the storm has been ‘devastating’. “I term it as a monster, a monster – it’s a setback for the government and for the people of Vanuatu,” he said. “After all the development that has taken place, all this development has been wiped out. My whole heart is for the people, the nation.”
More than 30 NHS staff from across the UK departed for Sierra Leone yesterday to join Britain’s fight against Ebola – the first group of NHS volunteers to be deployed by the UK government.
The British team will now complete a week of training in Freetown before moving to British-built Ebola treatment centres across the country.
Following this training and acclimatisation, the group – which includes GPs, nurses, clinicians, psychiatrists and consultants in emergency medicine – will begin work setting up procedures, diagnosing and treating people who have contracted the deadly virus.
They will work in treatment centres built by British Army Royal Engineers and funded by the Department for International Development.
International Development Secretary Justine Greening said: “Our fight against Ebola in West Africa is one of Britain’s biggest responses to a disease outbreak. Almost a thousand military personnel, scientists, healthcare and aid workers are already on the ground in Sierra Leone working to contain, control and defeat this terrible disease.
“But to beat Ebola we desperately need the experience and dedication of skilled doctors and nurses to care for the thousands of sick and dying patients who are not receiving the treatment they need.
“Every one of these NHS heroes will play a vital role in the fight against Ebola. It is only because of their combined efforts that we stand a chance of defeating this disease.”
Britain’s latest Ebola aid flight – delivering beds, personal protection suits, tents and vehicles – landed in Sierra Leone capital Freetown yesterday, International Development Secretary Justine Greening has confirmed.
Aid flights from the UK to Sierra Leone have delivered personnel and vital supplies for the construction and operation of the 92 bed treatment facility in Kerry Town – the first of at least five that the UK is building in the country from scratch.
A team of British military personnel – including logisticians, planners and engineers – are currently on the ground to oversee the construction of the treatment centre.
International Development Secretary Justine Greening said: “The UK continues to deliver essential supplies to control and defeat the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone.
“This aid will go towards getting the UK’s treatment facility up and running as soon as possible. It will also ensure that heroic health workers working on the front line have the very best protection equipment available to tackle this terrible disease.
“Construction of our treatment centre is now well underway and the first phase will be operational soon. This will provide a lifeline of care to Ebola patients in Sierra Leone.”
Aid supplies delivered so far include: 20 vehicles including ambulances; 75 water tanks; 3 incinerators for disposing of clothing and other materials; 12 generators; personal protection equipment; radio equipment; lighting sets; chlorine for sanitation; latrine slabs; temporary warehouse tents; 14 air conditioning units and isolator equipment.
The vehicles will be used to move blood samples and patients from local communities to the treatment centre. Further aid supplies will be deployed from the Department for International Development’s emergency warehouse in Kemble, Gloucestershire.
The UK has pledged £125 million to support the global effort to contain, control and defeat the disease in Sierra Leone. This includes support for 700 Ebola treatment beds which will provide direct medical care up to 8,800 patients over six months and help to shore up the country’s stretched public health services as they battle to contain the disease. This includes vital supplies such as chlorine and protective clothing for thousands of health workers.
