DEC East Africa Crisis Appeal

Over the last few days, we've seen shocking images from Africa.

Families that have walked for days - weeks -

in search of food, water and medical help.

Children, malnourished and sick.

The graves of mainly young children and babies,

who didn't reach help in time.

There is a drought affecting parts of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia

which is the worst in 60 years, with problems also in South Sudan.

It hasn't rained properly for two years,

so crops have failed, livestock have died and food prices have soared.

More than ten million people are facing starvation.

These people desperately need your help.

The Disasters Emergency Committee, or DEC - an umbrella organisation

that unites 14 major UK humanitarian aid agencies -

has launched an emergency appeal

to get aid to people affected by the drought.

DEC members and their partners are already on the ground

and doing what they can.

But to help the vast numbers of people affected,

they need your donation.

Dadaab in Kenya, the largest refugee camp in the world,

is seeing 1,300 people arrive from neighbouring Somalia every day.

One in three children arriving in the camp

is suffering from acute malnutrition.

But not everyone can get to a camp.

What about the millions of others we are not seeing or hearing?

Charities need to be able to deliver food and water to remote villages,

to seek out children who are on the brink of starvation

and give them emergency care.

This help is desperately needed - the next rains could be months away,

and by then it will be far too late for many.

The DEC will use your donation to provide safe drinking water,

emergency food parcels

and vaccinations to prevent outbreaks of disease.

This is a humanitarian crisis happening now,

so the DEC needs us to act now to stop this becoming a disaster.

Please help if you can.

You can give online at...

Or you can call...

Or if you want to send a donation, cheques payable to DEC

can be processed at any high-street bank, or post them to...

Thank you.