Mr McCully’s comments about NZAID & poverty elimination appear cavalier at best and ignorant at worst.

I invite him to visit with me an indigenous Ethiopian organisation with a membership of more than 15,000 leprosy-affected people partnered by The Leprosy Mission New Zealand with NZAID KOHA funds. He will see for himself that these people, most of whom are disabled and were totally marginalised by society and living in abject poverty, are now well organised and working for themselves. They have gained self-confidence and are working to secure their rights which includes education and work. Last December when I was with representatives of the people of this organisation in Addis Ababa they presented a certificate to our organisation and to NZAID, thanking us for standing by them in their journey over the last 10 years.

Our Executive Director, David Hall and I presented this certificate to Dr Peter Adams, Executive Director of NZAID, last Friday in Wellington on behalf of ENAPAL – the Ethiopian National Association of People Affected by Leprosy. Mr McCully, please hear the voices of these leprosy-affected people. People who have experienced leprosy are arguably the most poverty-stricken, marginalised people of all time. It is with pride and a great sense of humbleness that I continue to work alongside these incredibly wonderful tenacious people, who show such fortitude in spite of their lot. Mr McCully, please don’t add to their burdens, and that of others in poverty, by changing the NZAID programme which is working so well. It has been highly praised around the world as cutting edge in development terms, so it would do you well to consult more widely before making a very public spectacle.

Isabelle Duff
Programmes Director
The Leprosy Mission New Zealand

ENDS

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