BBC denies help to charity response to the humanitarian disaster in Gaza

War Child | 23rd January 2009

More than 1,300 civilians have been killed in Gaza, of which a third  have been children. A further 5,500 people, many of them also children, have been injured as a result of the recent strikes into Gaza.

These are not merely statistics. They represent the loss of human life and the profound damage caused to the lives of real people and their families.

The indirect consequences, including trauma, lack of access to medicine, the interruption of precarious livelihoods, and the effects of damage on vital infrastructure will have a human impact far beyond the immediate loss of life and injury. It is already creating a terrifying humanitarian situation.

The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) was established in 1963 to respond to humanitarian situations. In negotiating agreements with the likes of the BBC it has brought together a unique alliance of charities and broadcasters to facilitate the response of the British public’s concern for human beings living with such crises.

But the BBC, and now Sky, have refused to broadcast an appeal for funds to respond to the situation in Gaza.

The DEC agreed three main criteria with the BBC and other broadcasters for launching an appeal. Let’s just look at these criteria:

•    A disaster must be of a scale and emergency to require swift humanitarian assistance.

John Ging, a UN official, reported on 19th January that “half a million people had been without water since the conflict began, and huge numbers of people were without power. Four thousand homes are ruined and tens of thousands of people are homeless.”

•    At least some of the members of the DEC – the charities on the ground - must be in a position to provide effective and swift humanitarian support, and at a scale to justify a national appeal.


Brendan Gormley, the Chief Executive of the DEC, has stated that more than 100 lorries carrying relief supplies are making it into Gaza every day, thereby establishing evidence of a clear on-the-ground presence.

•    There must be sufficient public awareness and sympathy in the UK to indicate the likely success of a national appeal.


According to their own website, “criticism over the BBC's decision not to air the appeal has come from archbishops, government ministers, charity leaders and 11,000 viewers.” This represents a significant level of awareness and sympathy.

However, the reasons the BBC have provided for not running the appeal are:

"The BBC decision was made because of question marks about the delivery of aid in a volatile situation and also to avoid any risk of compromising public confidence in the BBC's impartiality in the context of an ongoing news story.”

These reasons are clearly inconsistent with the reality of the situation and with the objectives of the DEC’s appeal which is impartial and apolitical.

The British public is more than intelligent enough to distinguish between political or military propaganda, and the humanitarian objectives of the DEC.

International Humanitarian law is clear: Humanitarian assistance must be given on the basis of need alone and should not be subject to religious, ethnic, gender, or age discrimination. Nor should it be subject to perceived issues concerning impartiality held by the likes of the BBC.

In refusing to run the appeal children in Gaza will be denied much needed aid and will have been discriminated against by the BBC in a way that children benefiting from previous appeals were, quite rightly, not subjected to.

While its credibility as a news organisation is hugely important the BBC is not, however, merely a news organisation. It is a broadcaster. And as such has a remit beyond that of reporting news.

The BBC has a heritage of supporting humanitarian appeals and is not unfamiliar with the sensitivities of juggling them with the political complexities of any one particular situation. The people, and especially children, of Gaza do not need help because of their political position, whatever that may be. They need help because they don’t have food and water, medicine, homes, sanitation and the means to generate income.

It is for this reason only that the DEC has requested help with its appeal and in a way that is consistent with their 45 year old existing agreement with the BBC.

To be denied this help is to indirectly deny the humanitarian rights of people living with the deeply ugly effects of war.

This is not consistent with the BBC’s charter.

Mark Waddington
CEO, War Child UK
January 2009

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