DEC charities and their local partners are among the first responders, working with locally-led relief efforts in Turkey (now known as Türkiye) and Syria. Immediate priorities are search and rescue, medical treatment for the injured, shelter for those who have lost their homes, heaters for spaces and winter kits with blankets, and warm clothes, and ensuring people have food and clean water.

The DEC brings together 15 leading aid charities to raise funds quickly and efficiently at times of crisis overseas. In these times of crisis, people in life-and-death situations need their help and their mission is to save, protect and rebuild lives through effective humanitarian response. Pooling their resources to work as one, they are pivotal in co-ordinating the UK public's response to overseas disasters. In collaboration with their Rapid Response Network of national media and corporate partners, they raise the alarm to the UK public and set up easy ways for them to donate.