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Foreign donors shun Zimbabwe
Reuters
May 11, 2005

http://www.qa.reuters.co.uk/

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Foreign donors are so discouraged with Zimbabwe that it attracted just $4 (2.12 pounds) in outside aid for every person with AIDS in 2004 compared to $74 on average in the South African region as a whole, U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland said on Tuesday.

Zimbabwe is one of a number of African countries suffering from the triple threat of soaring AIDS cases, drought and "weak or bad governance," Egeland said after briefing the U.N. Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Africa.

But a lack of dialogue between the government of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and potential donors was also to blame for the country's poor showing in AIDS funding as well as persistent food shortages, he said.

Danish Ambassador Ellen Loj proposed that council members approve an informal statement expressing concern about the situation in Zimbabwe but that was blocked when China and Algeria objected, diplomats said.

The two countries argued that Zimbabwe's problem was a humanitarian crisis that did not belong on the agenda of the Security Council, which deals with international peace and security, said the diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Zimbabwe was once a breadbasket for Africa but its economy has virtually collapsed during the last six years and it now depends heavily on outside aid to feed its people.

Critics blame Mugabe, who encouraged the seizure of white-owned commercial farms, severely disrupting Zimbabwe's agricultural sector and scaring off foreign investors.

The 81-year-old leader, who has been in power since independence from Britain in 1980, accuses his domestic and foreign foes of trying to sabotage the economy.

Egeland urged Zimbabwe's government to cooperate with aid groups and better communicate with potential donors to help address the country's food shortages. The government is not doing enough to facilitate the work of teams sent to assess food needs and humanitarian aid groups, he told reporters.

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