March 26, 2008

UNICEF Launches Tap Project In New Zealand

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Tap Project, a campaign celebrates the clean and accessible tap water available as an every day privilege to millions, while helping UNICEF provide safe drinking water to children around the world, is launching in New Zealand - the only country outside North America to take part.

UNICEF NZ is inviting restaurants around the country to join the campaign, by asking diners to donate a minimum of $1 for the tap water they normally enjoy for free, for one week from Saturday 5 – Friday 11 April.

Many restaurants across the country have already registered and an updated list can be viewed at www.tapproject.org.nz

Dennis McKinlay, Executive Director of UNICEF NZ, says: “We’re very excited and honoured to be leading this NZ initiative. Just $1 can provide a child with safe drinking water for 30 days. Water is one of the cheapest and most effective forms of aid delivery, making a huge difference to the health and education of whole communities.”

“While we Kiwis are lucky enough to have bountiful, clean drinking water on tap, over 1 billion people around the world still do not have access to safe water & sanitation. Every day, 5,000 children die of water-related diseases such as cholera, typhoid and malaria.”

“Clean drinking water means more than protection against disease. It can mean a 50% increase in productivity for a village and, freed from the daily task of collecting water from distant sources, more children are able to attend school.”

This award-winning initiative was launched exclusively in New York in 2007, with UNICEF Ambassador, Sex and the City actress Sarah Jessica Parker and US celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson fronting the project, helping to provide clean water to the world’s poorest children. The campaign raised over US$100,000.

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UNICEF NZ Ambassadors, TV personalities Alison Mau and Mike McRoberts are fronting this year’s Tap Project NZ, along with many other well-known Kiwis.

Newsreader Mike McRoberts says: “I’ve seen for myself UNICEF at work drilling wells and providing clean water for children in Tanzania. Unclean water and poor sanitation is the second biggest killer of children globally, killing around 1.5 million children a year.”

Ali Mau adds: “UNICEF’s Tap Project is a simple yet brilliant way for us in New Zealand, who take running tap water for granted, to donate a small amount to help the world’s poorest children.

“It’s heart-breaking to imagine that young children sometimes have to walk for hours a day to the nearest water source, missing a chance at an education, only to collect water that could end up killing them.”

All proceeds will go to UNICEF water & sanitation programmes, saving the lives of children in the developing world who have limited access to clean drinking water.

“The use of restaurants throughout New Zealand to drive donations will make this an easy process for people who want to give money and help make a difference to thousands of families around the world less fortunate than us”, adds McKinlay.

Kiwis can also donate online at www.tapproject.org.nz or by texting TAP to 883 to make an automatic $3 donation.

Restaurants can register for Tap Project at www.tapproject.org.nz

ENDS

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