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NZ Aid workers launch joint appeal for South Sudan famine

NZ Aid workers launch joint appeal for South Sudan famine

New Zealand’s major aid agencies are uniting in an urgent plea for public donations to support their collective effort to prevent a humanitarian calamity in South Sudan and neighbouring countries.

“New Zealand agencies are saving lives in South Sudan and the Greater Horn of Africa, but we need more money to keep up with the scale of the suffering,” says Mark Mitchell, spokesperson for New Zealand’s alliance of international relief agencies. “Today we’re appealing to the New Zealand public with one voice to help us do more.”

The United Nations and government of South Sudan have declared a famine in South Sudan – the first the world has seen in six years. According to the UN, the South Sudan famine is affecting more than 100,000 people in Unity State. There are fears it will spread to a further 5 million across the country already facing severe food shortages.

“The number of people threatened with famine in South Sudan is equivalent to the entire population of New Zealand,” says Mitchell. “We need to act now to prevent more people dying of hunger.”

Seven New Zealand agencies are already conducting relief operations in South Sudan and the Greater Horn of Africa region, where conflict and drought have placed 70 million people in eight countries in need of immediate food aid. Thanks to the combined efforts of Caritas Aotearoa NZ, Christian World Service, UNICEF NZ, World Vision NZ, Save the Children NZ, Tearfund NZ, and ChildFund NZ, hundreds of thousands are receiving emergency food and water supplies, shelter, education and medical care.

To learn more about the crisis in South Sudan and the Greater Horn of Africa, and ways that you can donate to New Zealand relief efforts, go to www.cid.org.nz.

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