It has been a tough year for New Zealanders and for Kiwi charities.

"Families have struggled to pay the bills. There has been little money left over to donate to help a child in the Pacific and beyond. But once again, New Zealanders have proven themselves compassionate and generous to people beyond their own families," says ChildFund New Zealand CEO Josie Pagani.

New Zealand consistently ranks as one of the more generous countries in the world when it comes to donating money, volunteering, and helping strangers. The World Giving Index has historically placed New Zealand in the top 10 to 20 countries, with other global analyses confirming this pattern.

"To put that generosity into context, here is what we spend on everything else," says Josie Pagani.

• Each year, New Zealanders spend approximately $1.8 billion on Christmas-related shopping and gifts. This also leads to a sharp increase in discarded packaging, including wrapping paper, soft plastics, and cardboard.
• Less than a quarter of the money the world spends on pet food could fund proven interventions such as nutrition packs for babies, saving an estimated 4.2 million lives each year at a cost of $35 billion. That is the equivalent of preventing a jumbo jet full of passengers from crashing every hour.
• Each Kiwi family also spends about $26 on Christmas crackers. The same amount could help feed a family for a year by gifting chickens to a family in need.

"Right now, one in ten people in the world still live without access to clean water. This is entirely preventable. This is something we know how to fix," says Josie Pagani.

In Kiribati, one in ten deaths among children under five is linked to dirty water and diarrhoeal disease. In Solomon Islands, the figure is one in fourteen. Only 16 percent of school-aged children in Solomon Islands have access to clean, safe water.

ChildFund New Zealand works alongside local communities across the Pacific to improve access to clean water for children and families.

"The best Christmas gift you can give a child is the chance to turn on a tap and drink clean water," says Josie Pagani. "Clean water changes everything. Children do not get sick. They do not miss school to collect water. Parents can focus on earning an income."

"Times are hard in New Zealand. But they are even harder for families in the Pacific who still do not have access to clean, running water."

The best Christmas present for these families is clean water - https://shop.childfund.org.nz/products/community-water

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