Kiwi generosity saving thousands from starvation in Horn of Africa crisis

ChildFund New Zealand CEO Paul Brown has returned home from drought-stricken Kenya, where he met children and parents who are alive today thanks to generous Kiwi contributions.

New Zealand funds are directly feeding 16,030 children and 564 pregnant women in Turkana, a severely stressed community in the far north of the country where ChildFund provides on-going development support and now, urgent aid relief.

Kiwi support has also helped ensure malnourished children receive life-saving medical treatment and transformed childcare centres into emergency food distribution facilities capable of coping with six times more children than normal and dispensing some 200 tonnes of food so far.

ChildFund New Zealand CEO Paul Brown is immediately available for interviews and can provide:

• An eyewitness account of how the international community is responding to this continuing crisis, and the critical role New Zealanders are playing.
• Specific examples of how Kiwi aid dollars are being used, including stories from the Turkana people he met whose lives have been directly saved by this money.
• Insight into what can be expected in the next ‘phases’ of this on-going crisis.

In Kenya, ChildFund International with assistance from New Zealand, provides nutrition, medical and other support for some 50,000 children under five years old.

Kiwis are estimated to have contributed around $3million in aid through various organisations operating in the Horn of Africa, and nearly $600,000 through ChildFund New Zealand alone.

The region will continue to rely on such support as the November rains are expected to be insufficient. Emergency response plans already stretch into mid-2012 to allow for delays in harvesting, with further development then needed to provide sustainable water and food sources.