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This article participates on the following special index pages:
Operation Murambatsvina - Countrywide evictions of urban poor - Index of articles
UNDP
pledges US$100 000
Godfrey Marawanyika, The Zimbabwe Independent
July 22, 2005
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/news/2005/July/Friday22/2816.html
THE United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) has set aside US$100 000 ($1 billion)
to assist informal traders affected by government's controversial
clean-up campaign.
The money is
meant for the construction of market stalls to help informal traders
revive their businesses destroyed by the widely condemned Operation
Murambatsvina.
"In the short-term
UNDP has immediately set aside US$100 000 to assist the informal
traders initiate a process of re-establishing their livelihoods,"
said the UNDP in a statement.
It said it would
formulate a programme to benefit the traders based on the recommendations
of UN secretary-general Koffi Annan's special envoy Anna Tibaijuka's
report after her visit to Zimbabwe two weeks ago.
"UNDP will continue
to engage the authorities on this issue to ensure that the government
adheres to its international obligations as enshrined in the relevant
covenants."
The UNDP said
its thrust would focuse on the medium to long-term recovery of livelihoods
of the affected people.
"It is envisaged
that as part of the medium to long-term programme, the United Nations
and UNDP will consider providing shelter and other basic infrastructure
for the affected people as well as re-building disrupted livelihoods."
The UNDP has
also sought 2 million euro assistance from the European Commission.
The money will
be used to import food.
During Tibaijuka's
visit, she held several meetings with key government ministers on
the operation which destroyed what government described as illegal
structures and unlicensed market stalls in the city centre and poor
residential areas.
Thousands of
residential shelters were destroyed in combined operation of the
police and local authorities. At least 300 000 people were reportedly
left homeless.
Tibaijuka assessed
the capacity of both the government and the civic community to respond
to the humanitarian needs of the affected people.
Tibaijuka is
expected to present her report to Annan any time next week.
The clean-up
campaign, which was not included in this year's budget, needs at
least $3 trillion.
Last month,
Vice-President Joice Mujuru admitted at a bi-annual engineers' conference
that the clean-up would need foreign assistance.
She said although
government was embarking on a reconstruction programme to address
the needs of those who had been displaced by Operation Murambatsvina,
this would need a lot of on-site and off-site infrastructure.
Mujuru said
some of the infrastructure needed include roads, storm water drainage,
water, and sewerage reticulation and electrical installations.
"However, the
success of this programme will again be constrained by the need
to import some of the inputs," she said. "I am informed that for
the electrical reticulation of a typical residential scheme, 80%
of the cost will be in the form of foreign currency. If I similarly
choose another critical infrastructural component, viz sewerage
treatment works, the foreign currency requirement looms large once
more.
"As an example,
for a biological nutrient removal (BNR), the foreign currency requirement
will be 45% of the total cost. Just one BNR plant of the size that
would be required at Whitecliff Farm has a foreign currency component
of US$3 million," said Mujuru.
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