New Zealand Gives Humanitarian Food Aid To Indonesia

New Zealand will contribute over NZ$500,000 to support UNICEF's complimentary feeding for infants (CFI) programme in Indonesia, Foreign Minister Don McKinnon and Associate Minister Simon Upton announced today.

The programme aims to alleviate the impact o the current economic crisis by providing food supplements to undernourished infants, particularly in urban areas.

"There is overwhelming evidence that the impact of this crisis is most severe in urban centres where inflation and food scarcity have resulted in increased undernourishment amongst children and particularly infants. New Zealand is very pleased to assist UNICEF's food initiatives to stem malnutrition amongst young children," the Ministers said.

More than half of childhood mortality in Indonesia is directly or indirectly attributable to malnutrition. Infants under one year of age are most vulnerable. The CFI programme will provide micronutrient fortified complementary food to infants 6-12 months old, which will be distributed through community health centres (Posyandu). The programme also aims to improve community awareness, especially amongst pregnant women and lactating mothers, about the importance of infant nutritional requirements.

New Zealand's contribution will come from the New Zealand Official Development Assistance (NZODA) programme to Indonesia, which totals NZ$5.1 million. The assistance will be drawn from the humanitarian assistance component of the programme which aims to respond to the economic crisis and to alleviate the impact on the most poor and vulnerable parts of Indonesian community.