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New Zealand Sends More Aid to Arab Countries

New Zealand has announced that it will be sending an additional $930,000 worth of aid for relief and rehabilitation efforts in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Helen Clark said the amount would be divided equally between the parties. This means that both Lebanon and Palestinians will receive roughly $465,000 each from Wellington. Clark said that Wellington`s contribution was actually already made following the donor conferences for Lebanon and Gaza, held in Stockholm, Sweden last week.

Prime Minister Clark said "Our funding is a demonstration of New Zealand`s commitment to providing humanitarian assistance when and where it is needed most. New Zealand has a long track-record of working with the United Nations and we support the lead-role U.N. agencies are taking in delivering humanitarian assistance, and in recovery and reconstruction efforts."

One half of the aid will go to the United Nations Children`s Fund, or UNICEF, for water and sanitation work in south Lebanon. The other half will go to the somewhat tainted United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East, in this case with the aid tentatively going towards health care in the Palestinian territories.