Disasters: How to help

How you can help with the response to disasters

New Zealanders are generous by nature and will want to assist with the response to disasters. Many New Zealanders will also have relatives or friends living or visiting affected areas.

The information below is designed to help people understand how they can best help with the emergency response to disasters more generally.

Finding family members

New Zealanders concerned about family members in areas affected by disasters should try to make contact with them in the first instance. Those with ongoing concerns may call the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade on 04 439 8000, with as many contact details as possible.

Check websites | NZAID and New Zealand NGOs post regular updates on disasters

You should check the NZAID website and the websites of other humanitarian agencies for regular updates about a disaster.

Give money | This is the easiest and most effective way most people can help.

New Zealand based non-government organisations will respond to the disaster. They will urgently need money for their work. You should look out for advertisements on TV and radio and in national newspapers. You can also check their websites to find out how you can make a donation.

NZAID will make information about any specific appeals publicly available once they are established.

For information about Chile earthquake appeals click here.

For information about Haiti earthquake appeals click here.

For information about Pacific Tsunami Appeals click here.

For information about Pacific Cyclone Appeals click here.

Don’t collect and send donated goods | Instead convert goods into cash

A common response to disasters overseas is to organise the collection and donation of goods that you think are urgently needed. Please avoid doing this because if you donate goods that haven’t specifically been requested by a humanitarian agency, these items may clog up airports and docks and actually prevent essential supplies from reaching people in the disaster-affected area.

If food, clothing and medical supplies are needed, the large United Nations agencies and major non-governmental organisations are geared up to provide bulk supplies quickly, without the need for sorting, packing, finding transportation costs or seeking permits. A cash donation helps them to buy whatever is needed most.

For more advice on donating to the Pacific tsunami relief effort click here.

Specialist Skills

People with specialist skills may be required to help in the disaster area.

If you have the necessary skills and would like to register for work in disaster-affected regions, you can register online with the Register of Engineers for Disaster Relief (RedR) New Zealand. This organisation matches people's professional skills such as engineering (water, sanitation and mechanical), health, child protection, medical, search and rescue, logistics and telecommunications with the needs in the disaster-affected region. For a full list of professions that may be eligible to register with the RedR go to their website.

However, if you do not have any specialist skills, do not go to the disaster area because you risk doing more harm than good. There is a high chance that after using up crucial travel, accommodation, food, or translation resources you may be unable to effectively contribute to the relief effort. Instead, help by volunteering in New Zealand. This can be vitally important to the disaster relief effort.

You could:

help to staff phone lines for an aid agency taking donations or providing public information
organise local fundraising events through your community organisations, schools or workplace
volunteer in a charity shop selling and sorting donated items.

If you want to equip yourself to work in humanitarian relief operations, you can seek advice from most aid agencies about getting the relevant training in areas including logistics, information technology and telecommunications, medical search and rescue, specialist disasters assessment and healthcare. The large humanitarian agencies also carry a full list of current vacancies on their websites.

Travelling to areas affected by disaster

Additional information is available on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade's safe travel website: www.safetravel.govt.nz