Stars Take Water Campaign South

A UNICEF campaign launched by Sarah Jessica Parker and Marcus Samuelsson in New York last year has hit the shores of the remote South Pacific.

The Tap Project, established to help UNICEF provide safe drinking water to children around the world, has just been launched in New Zealand – the only country outside North America to take part so far.

UNICEF NZ is inviting restaurants around the country to join the campaign by asking diners to donate a minimum of $1 for the tap water they normally enjoy for free. The initiative will run for 1 week from April 5-11, and a full list of the restaurants can be found at www.tapproject.org.nz.

“We’re very excited and honored to be leading this NZ initiative,” said Dennis McKinlay, Executive Director of UNICEF NZ. “Just $1 can provide a child with safe drinking water for 30 days. Over 1 billion people around the world still do not have access to safe water & sanitation. Every day, 5,000 children die of water-related diseases such as cholera, typhoid and malaria. Clean drinking water means more than protection against disease. It can mean a 50% increase in productivity for a village and, freed from the daily task of collecting water from distant sources, more children are able to attend school.”

Over $100,000 was raised by the campaign in America last year.