UK announces £30,000 aid flood-affected communities

Staff Correspondent: The UK is providing £30,000 or Tk 4.5 crores of vital humanitarian assistance to support flood-affected communities in Sylhet, where over three million people have been impacted and 260,000 are displaced.
The current flooding in Bangladesh has so far affected over 14.8 million people in different parts of the country, said the British High Commission in Dhaka on Tuesday.
This UK contribution in Sylhet will be managed by Start Fund Bangladesh and implemented by Caritas Bangladesh, reads a press release issued Tuesday. It will provide cash assistance, clean drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene supplies, and complement the Government of Bangladesh’s ongoing response to the flooding.
The UK is also a significant contributor to the global humanitarian pooled funds, such as the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies’ Disaster Response Emergency Fund (DREF) and the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).
Both of these are providing a total of £5.9m (Tk 89.5 crores) to support people affected by flooding in northern Bangladesh with food, clean drinking water, sanitation and hygiene supplies, shelter, health support, and cash assistance.
Sarah Cooke, British high commissioner to Bangladesh, said the UK stands beside all of those affected by the current flooding in Bangladesh.
“I am pleased to announce the UK is providing humanitarian assistance to support those affected,” she said, adding that this includes £30,000 through START Fund Bangladesh to provide vital supplies to over 5,000 people in Sylhet, as well as contributions to pooled funds that are supporting those in the north of the country.
This contribution complements the Government of Bangladesh’s response.
The Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) is a humanitarian fund established by the United Nations General Assembly to enable timely and reliable humanitarian assistance to those affected by natural disasters, armed conflict, and complex emergencies through rapid, effective, and efficient channeling of resources to humanitarian agencies.
IFRC’s Disaster Response Emergency Fund (DREF) is a pooled fund which offers rapid financial support to National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to help them respond to small and medium-scale disasters or other emergencies that may not receive significant donor or media attention and therefore funding.