A national British appeal was launched today to raise money for the aid effort in Burma.

The major overseas aid charities say they will join forces and co-ordinate their fundraising and emergency relief efforts due to the extent of the disaster and the dire need of the Burmese people. The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), the umbrella group which represents the 13 biggest aid charities and co-ordinates major disaster appeals, will run the campaign.

The DEC took almost two days to make up its mind on whether or not to launch a national appeal, similar to that after the Asian Tsunami. There have been fears that the charities would struggle to spend a large sum of money effectively due to restrictions placed on their workers by the military dictatorship in the country. The cash raised will go towards not just emergency shelter and food, but reconstruction and rehabilitation afterwards.

However because three big charities already have extensive networks of aid workers in place in Burma, the committee decided to go ahead. The Red Cross alone has 17,000 volunteers in the country in a network run by the Myanmar Red Cross. Save the Children and World Vision also have a significant presence in the country.

“Our members are there and need the UK public to show huge generosity to help them reach those thousands of people who have seen their lives and livelihoods uprooted by this disaster,” said Brendan Gormley, chief executive of the DEC.

A national DEC appeal has numerous benefits. It increases the amount raised by five or ten times, largely due to the free airtime offered by broadcasters for the appeal. It also means fundraising efforts are not duplicated and the public are not bombarded by different messages or confused about where to send their money. The DEC also guarantees that all the money raised will be spent on the cause it was raised for.

“A DEC campaign gets the nation giving. All the broadcasters get behind it and we get a lot of free airtime for the appeal.,” said Mark Asterita, head of fundraising at the British Red Cross.

“Clearly there has been a lot of media coverage of the story but news stories do not prompt people to give money. You have to get the chance to ask them and I’m sure they will respond generously in the way they have in the past.” The DEC’s Tsunami appeal raised almost £400 million. Charity chiefs hope the Burma appeal will raise at least as much as the appeal after the Bangladesh cyclone, which reached almost £10 million.

A spokeswoman for the DEC said it was right that people should question whether their money will be spent effectively in Burma, given the nature of the military junta.

However she noted the first consignment of emergency aid will arrive this morning in Rangoon by air fro Kuala Lumpur.

“One of the tests that must be met before the DEC launches an appeal is whether the money be spent effectively on the ground. We would not launch the appeal if we were not confident it would be, “ she said.

The three main charities had already launched individual fund raising appeals before the DEC took its decision to hold a national campaign. They will now cease, although all the money raised go towards their work in Burma.

To donate visit www.dec.org.uk or telephone 0870 60 60 900

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