New Zealand to provide $2 million to battle humanitarian crisis in Africa

  • Murray McCully
Foreign Affairs

Foreign Minister Murray McCully has today announced New Zealand will provide a total of NZ$2 million in response to the worsening humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa due to severe drought.

“Up to 10 million people are starving across Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti, including 2.5 million people in Somalia and 3.2 million people in Ethiopia,” Mr McCully said.

“The international assessment is that the situation is deteriorating rapidly. Dramatic increases in food prices and prolonged civil conflict in Somalia are worsening the crisis.

“Our contribution will be made via the United Nation’s World Food Programme (WFP) and accredited New Zealand non-government organisations (NGOs) with established partnerships in the affected region.

“New Zealand will provide NZ$1 million to the WFP to support their work to feed 6.6 million people across the region.

“An additional NZ$1 million will support New Zealand NGOs to respond to humanitarian needs.

“In a crisis of this scale, the United Nations and NGOs are critical to the ability of the international community to be able to respond immediately and reach those in need,” Mr McCully said.

New Zealand’s support is in addition to an earlier NZ$1 million contribution provided to WFP in April when warnings of the ongoing humanitarian crisis were raised by the international community.