UK co-operative sector encouraged to support DEC Pakistan floods appeal

Earlier this month the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) launched its Pakistan Floods Appeal to support people in Pakistan affected by flooding.

DEC charities are providing life-saving aid but say further funds are vital to reach more disaster victims requiring food, clean drinking water and shelter.

Co-operative retailers, including Co-op Group, Midcounties Co-operative and Central England Co-operative, have already launched awareness raising campaigns to encourage members and customers to donate online, by text or in-store.

While the appeal has been live since 1 September, and over £25 million has been raised across the UK, rains have returned to the worst-hit areas. A Dengue fever outbreak has hit Karachi and there remains a high risk of diseases, including cholera, malaria and typhoid, spreading in the aftermath of the floods.

Co-operatives UK is encouraging the wider co-operative movement to offer its support. Rose Marley, Co-operatives UK CEO, said: "We are encouraging our members and the wider co-operative movement to get behind DEC's Pakistan Flood Appeal.

"Despite an incredible response from the UK public already, the ongoing flooding and risk of disease is is hugely concerning. We need to ensure that agencies working on the ground have all the support they need to reach those most in need.

"We are also reaching out to co-operative organisations in Pakistan to understand other ways the UK movement can support the recovery and rebuild."

More than 33 million, one in seven Pakistanis, have been affected so far. One third of the country – an area the size of the UK – has been submerged with floods sweeping away entire communities and leaving more than a million homes destroyed or badly damaged. At least 1,100 people have already been killed and six million more are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance.  

How to donate

• Donate online: You can donate via https://coop.uk/3TCw39i 

• Donate by text: Text COOP to 70000 to donate £10. Texts cost £10 plus standard network rate. Disasters Emergency Committee are a registered charity, no. 1062638. For full T&Cs on text donate visit dec.org.uk

This call out to the movement has been coordinated via the International Co-operative Working Group (ICWG). The ICWG is chaired by Rose Marley and made up of representatives from Co-op Group, Midcounties Co-op, Central England Co-op, the Worker Co-op Council, Co-op News and Co-op College.  

In recent years the UK co-op sector has raised more than £1 million to the Ukraine DEC Appeal, £100,000 to provide emergency Covid support to co-operatives in India and nearly $100,000 Australian dollars to help co-operatives rebuild after the Australian wildfires in early 2020.