Flooding in Pakistan 

Severe flooding in Pakistan has affected well over 15 million people, half of whom are children. Contaminated water is increasing the risk of water-borne diseases like diarrhoea and cholera, to which children are especially vulnerable. UNICEF is providing emergency supplies such as hygiene kits, shelter, food and clean water to 1.5 million people every day. We cannot let those who survived drowning to die from disease.

EarthQuake

The earthquake that devastated Haiti on the 12th January 2010 directly affected close to 1.5 million children; nearly double the entire population of children in New Zealand. UNICEF’s response to this rapid-onset emergency was unprecedented, and was only possible due to donations to our Emergency Fund. UNICEF and partners went straight to work mobilizing over 300 staff, vaccinating 104,000 children, supplying water to 1million people, establishing nutrition tents for children, distributing 1,400 school tents for use as temporary classrooms as well as supplying 720,000 school backpacks for children.

Cyclone Tomas in fiji

When Cyclone Tomas hit Fiji and the Solomon Islands in March 2010, leaving three people dead, 433 homes completely destroyed, 4,000 households affected and at least 25 schools damaged, UNICEF was rapidly able to supply 102,000 oral rehydration salts, 305,000 water purification tablets, 10,184 collapsible water containers, 290 tarpaulins, 100 tents and 51 health kits. The reason we were able to act immediately, was our Emergency Fund.

8.8 EarthQuake in Chile

At least 700 people were killed and hundreds of thousands were displaced when an 8.8 magnitude earthquake hit Chile in February 2010, causing widespread damage to homes, hospitals, schools, roads and other infrastructure. In the aftermath of natural disasters such as this, it is the children that suffer most. Thanks to our Emergency Fund, we were able to be there providing life-saving supplies.

DARFUR

Due to the Darfur Conflict, the region has been in a state of humanitarian emergency since 2003. Since the conflict began an estimated 500,000 people have died due violence and disease, and approximately 2.6 million people have been internally displaced. Hunger, violence, disease, rape, the recruitment of child soldiers all continue to be chronic problems affecting women and children. United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, Mukesh Kapila, called Darfur the "world's greatest humanitarian crisis." That was in March 2004 and the situation is still dire. Although Darfur comes in and out of media focus, UNICEF remains.

Horn of Africa

With the failure of four consecutive rainy seasons, the impact of drought, hunger and disease is not only felt in Kenya, but throughout the Horn of Africa. Across the region, some 24 million people in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia and parts of Uganda are now in need of humanitarian aid, up from 20 million earlier this year. Among them nearly five million are children under five years of age.

GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS

Rising food costs have trapped tens of millions of children and their families in a downward spiral of poverty and destitution. The crisis has been caused by increased food demand from newly-rich nations, rising production costs from soaring oil prices, pressure to convert land to bio-fuel production and disruption to harvests caused by climate change. UNICEF is setting up more emergency therapeutic feeding centres for malnourished and severely malnourished children. We are distributing life-saving therapeutic milks and supplements like Plumpy Nut.

To donate to our Emergency Fund, please us the form on the right hand side.

*UNICEF NZ is a registered charity with the New Zealand Charities Commission (registration CC35979), making your donation tax refundable. More information on How to Claim Your Tax Rebate.