Media Release

United Nations Children’s Fund

The recent offer by Christchurch company, Green Monkey, of distressed baby food they have in a USA warehouse, has raised an issue of how New Zealanders and NZ companies can best respond when emergencies arise.

Specialist emergency orgainsations such as UNICEF and Red Cross have sophisticated supply chains that immediately activate when a disaster strikes says Dennis McKinlay Executive Director of UNICEF NZ.

They both send in charter flights with disaster specific supplies and source locally to support the local economy where this is possible. These supplies arrive in country within hours and days and attract no duty or charges and are dispatched to the field immediately.

Because the Green Monkey offer is a commercial product based in the USA there were complications around paper work out of the USA and into Pakistan plus fees to be paid on arrival. Dealing with these complications when we are fully occupied responding to one of the largest disasters in history, affecting 20 million people, was not what was in the best interest of the Pakistani people at this stage of the crises.

What we need now is cash to pay for the supplies we have on the ground today. UNICEF responded immediately but the world generally has been slow to respond to pay for these supplies.

The NZ Government recommends people give cash rather than goods as this is the most efficient way to help people when affected by a disaster. See http://www.nzaid.govt.nz/what-we-do/disasters-how-to-help.html

UNICEF does accept gifts in kind and during the Samoan tsunami a year ago we accepted bottled water and paint and shipped it off courtesy of Air NZ.

Mr McKinlay says; “We greatly appreciate the generous offer by Green Monkey, and other New Zealanders who have offered goods, and those who have donated to our appeal. The public response is gaining momentum as the full impact of the floods is becoming apparent.”

ENDS

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