New Zealand will contribute another one million NZ dollars (773,000 U.S. dollars) to the United Nations efforts to help Myanmar recover from the devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis, Prime Minister Helen Clark announced on Thursday.
Clark said the money will be made via NZAID and is in addition to the 500,000 NZ dollars pledged Wednesday to New Zealand aid and relief agencies involved in Myanmar.
"Reports coming out of Myanmar suggest that 40 percent of those killed, injured, or left homeless by this disaster are children. It's important that New Zealand does what it can to assist," she said.
Children in the affected regions will be vulnerable to disease and infection and immediate assistance is required to ensure more lives are not lost, she said.
"Our contribution to UNICEF will focus on caring for the injured, preventing the spread of disease and ensuring children have access to clean water and food. Working through the agencies of the U.N. ensures New Zealand's assistance gets to those who need its most," she added.
The death toll in the violent cyclone storm Nargis that swept Myanmar has risen to nearly 23,000, and the number of missing to 42,119, Myanmar state radio reported on Wednesday.
Source:Xinhua
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