Tearfund launches Urgent Appeal to support churches as the first responders in a world of forgotten and escalating crises

Globally we are seeing an unprecedented increase in crises, and Tearfund’s church partners are often the first to respond. People are starving and facing the trauma of losing families and livelihoods, more than 122 million people have been forced to leave their homes or shelters, over three times the population of the UK.

Today, Tearfund launches an Urgent Appeal to help support church partners who are responding in the face of these growing needs and often forgotten crises in countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), South Sudan, Myanmar and Bangladesh, amid rapidly rising global food prices.

Stuart Lee, Tearfund’s Director of Fundraising, says: “Tearfund’s church partners are the first to respond in these crises, and they work there day in, day out. We need more funds to enable us to carry on supporting them in these increasingly difficult circumstances. They deliver life-saving clean water, help parents to protect their children from malnutrition, provide trauma healing and offer cash grants to restore people’s dignity and livelihoods.”

This work is vital to help women like Marie* in the DRC. When a landslide caused by floods swept through her region, her husband was killed. She is now raising her children alone. Marie told us, “Now life has turned dark for me with the whole family.” After the crisis, Tearfund provided thousands of people like Marie with access to clean and safe water.

Stuart Lee continues: “The suffering around the world right now is hard to comprehend, yet Tearfund and its church partners continue to transform communities where the need is greatest. We hope and pray people will stand with us and help us to bring salt and light into the world alongside our global brothers and sisters.”

For more information about Tearfund’s Urgent Appeal, or to donate, please visit: www.tearfund.org/urgentappeal

*Name has been changed for protection

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For further information or interviews contact Maddie Gordon on 07783770487. For out of hours media enquiries please call 07929 339813 or email [email protected]

Notes to editors:

The number of armed conflicts in the world has reached an historic high: reported in Times, 12 June 2025, from Uppsala Conflict Data Program.

The number of people forcibly displaced globally is more than 2 million higher than last year – more than 122 million in total – more than three times the population of the UK.

• In the DRC, conflict and climate shocks have left more than 21 million people in urgent need.
• In Sudan, conflict has caused 30 million people to need humanitarian aid.
• In Myanmar a 7.7 magnitude earthquake killed nearly 4,000 people.
• In Afghanistan, years of conflict have left almost 23 million people in urgent need of humanitarian support.
• Across East Africa, more than 36 million people have been hit by the worst droughts in 40 years.

Tearfund is a Christian charity that partners with churches in more than 50 of the world's poorest countries. We tackle poverty through sustainable development, responding to disasters and challenging injustice. We believe an end to extreme poverty is possible. Tearfund is also a member of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC). For more information about the work of Tearfund, please visit www.tearfund.org