UNICEF auctions Ambassadors for Pakistan emergency

UNICEF NZ (UN Children’s Fund)

Media Release

Wellington, 12 August 2010

UNICEF auctions Ambassadors for Pakistan emergency

Mike McRoberts, Ali Mau and Gareth Morgan are all up for auction.

The three high-profile UNICEF NZ ambassadors are going on the auction block to raise funds for the Pakistan flood crisis.

Mike McRoberts has first-hand experience of devastation in developing countries. He has covered some of the world’s most dangerous places, including conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon and Gaza.

“Having seen how emergency situations can impact children’s lives, I appreciate the need for prompt action from the relief agents like UNICEF. I urge people to support UNICEF in its work in the devastated regions of Pakistan,” he says.

Alison Mau is a high-profile television journalist and presenter. She is one of New Zealand's most loved TV stars and a consumer champion on Fair Go.

Gareth Morgan is a well-known economist, investor, fisherman, columnist and motorcycle adventurer with a larger-than-life persona. He has traveled extensively in developing countries.

The funds raised from the auction will go to UNICEF's emergency work in Pakistan, where floods have affected more than 14 million people, including six million children.

UNICEF NZ Executive Director, Dennis McKinlay says the money is needed straight away.

“These high profile people are prepared to commit their time because they appreciate, from their own experiences, how serious the situation is and because they know that UNICEF can do something significant about it,” he says.

UNICEF is the lead agency in water supply, sanitation, nutrition, child and education, (with Save the Children) coordinating people to avoid duplication of resources. “One of the biggest threats is the outbreak of waterborne diseases such as diarrhoea and cholera, to which children are especially vulnerable,” he says.

UNICEF is supplying 4.2 million sachets of oral re-hydration salts. It has ensured a clean water supply to over 800,000 people, repairing 112 wells damaged in the floods and trucking in water where needed.

“UNICEF personnel have hit the ground running. It has been in Pakistan since 1948, so are expertly placed to respond.”

The Trade Me auctions close on August 21.

For more information on UNICEF's Pakistan Emergency Relief Fund, please visit www.unicef.org.nz/PakistanEmergency

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