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Zimbabwe
Humanitarian Situation Report
The
UN Humanitarian Co-ordinator’s Bi-Monthly Report No 9/03
May 12, 2003
ECHO hands
over key equipment to WFP implementing partners
Ambassador
Francesca Mosca, head of the European Commission's delegation in
Zimbabwe, presided over the handover ceremony of a €5 million contribution
from the European Commission Humanitarian Office (ECHO) to WFP's
implementing partner NGOs on 9th May 2003. The ceremony
was attended by WFP Zimbabwe Country Director a.i. Gawaher Atif,
ECHO staff, European Union member state diplomats and representatives
of the eleven implementing partner organisations. The contribution
is designed to enhance the operational capacity of WFP Implementing
Partners and strengthen their presence especially for targeting,
registration, verification and monitoring of food distributions.
With the support
from ECHO, WFP purchased 4X4 vehicles, High Frequency mobile radios
(one for each vehicle), High Frequency radio base stations, rub
halls (pre-fabricated storage), tarpaulins, desktop computers, laptop
computers, fax machines, printers, photocopiers and solar panels.
Some of the equipment and vehicles were on display at the ceremony.
The donation will also be used to fund essential training for NGO
staff in logistics, management as well as programme monitoring and
evaluation.
Workshop
in Matebeleland South
A
one-day workshop is being held in Gwanda on 14th May
2003 to follow up on the joint UN/RRU, FAO, UNICEF, WHO and IOM
mission that took place to Matabeleland South Province. This mission
was fielded in response to the Presidential declaration of a state
of disaster in the province. The mission assessment report is the
subject of the workshop and formal presentations of the recommendations
outlined in the report will be made. The main objective is to discuss
the analysis and recommendations within the report. The workshop
will develop a plan of action based on the discussions, which will
strengthen humanitarian co-ordination and augment the current humanitarian
activities, particularly with regard to food security, water and
sanitation.
The workshop
will include participants from the UN agencies involved in humanitarian
activities across the country, NGOs and local government officials.
NGO Capacity
Building
A
meeting for NGO Capacity Building Planning was held on 25th
April 2003 between the NGO members and the UN/RRU. An action plan
will be completed this month and it will include the production
of the following:
- Criteria
upon which districts will participate, and a tentative list of
participating districts.
- Criteria
upon which sectors and themes will be covered, including a tentative
schedule.
- Criteria
upon which NGOs will participate in the plan.
- Budgeting
and costing framework for the plan.
A third meeting
will be held on the 15th of May, when the first draft
of a proposal will be tabled.
Government
revises policy on commodity pricing
GoZ
announced on 6th May 2003, revisions to its price control
policy on basic commodities. This move has seen price controls on
some basic commodities, particularly those that are directly subsidised
by the Government, unchanged. These include maize, maize meal, wheat
flour and bread.
Other essential
products, including agricultural chemicals, seeds, beef, cooking
oil drugs, sugar and salt will have their prices monitored. Prices
will be fixed in consultation with, and after approval from the
Ministry of Industry and International Trade.
Food security
analysis underway
The
annual FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission (CFSAM) visited
Zimbabwe from 27th April - 8th of May 2003.
The mission carried out assessments all the provinces of Zimbabwe
and made in-depth analyses of the current and projected food security
situation. One of the initial observations was that in agro-ecological
zones four and five, households who have always sold livestock and
cotton to procure grain can no longer access grain, even when they
have the accrued revenue at their disposal.
The mission
has returned to Rome where it is working on the details of the report,
including the level and extent of the food security recovery. It
is expected that the report will be completed before the end of
this month. Along with these, results from the ZIMVAC and the National
Nutrition survey are expected. Access to all these results will
give a comprehensive picture of the national environment with regard
to food security.
Focus on
risk management for small scale farmers
A
workshop is being organised by the Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU)
facilitated by the Recovery Team of the RRU in Chiredzi District
(Masvingo Province) from 21st–23rd May 2003.
This workshop will look at risk management for farmers and aims
to promote drought tolerant crops for small-scale farmers.
The specific
objectives of this workshop are:
- To promote
awareness of the importance of diversification in order to enhance
their food security;
- To determine
a clear picture of the availability of small grain and maize seed
for the next planting season;
- To establish
the farmers’ diversification plans particularly in the dry regions
where maize does not do well during periods of drought; and
- To bring
together stakeholders participating in the promotion of drought
tolerant crops to ensure that plans and resources are put in place
in time for the next planting season.
The need for
this workshop has become apparent because of the difficulties farmers
have experienced in accessing seeds and the effects this had during
the 2002/3 planting season. It is the intention of the ZFU and other
partners to use this workshop as a chance to think ahead and share
views with farmers on their needs and plans for the upcoming agricultural
season.
FAO will be
significantly involved in the workshop. Other participants will
include; members from the different farming unions, Local Government
officials, NGOs, chiefs, seed houses, agri dealers, AREX and ICRISAT.
It is expected
that a clearer indication of the gaps on small grain and maize seed
availability will be established, and that a crop diversification
strategy will be agreed upon as a result of the workshop.
Achievements
of the Zero Tolerance Campaign against Child Abuse
The
Zero Tolerance Campaign has now reached all school going children.
The emphasis continues to be on the establishment of functional
reporting and referral mechanisms that are child-victim friendly.
A positive outcome
of the Zero Tolerance Campaign has been its contribution towards
increased reporting of cases in local papers, and political leaders
now talking openly about, and against, abuse of children. In addition
the theme for the Day of the African Child (DAC), on 16th
June, is child abuse and child protection, incorporating birth registration.
A tele-conference involving all stakeholders is planned as one of
the events to mark the DAC.
With support
from UNICEF the Ministry of Education Sport and Culture has embarked
on psycho-social support for identified victims of abuse using professional
guidance and counselling teachers, pastors and other community leaders.
In some instances, cases that were not reported or badly dealt with
have been brought to justice.
HIV/AIDS
Life Skills Education
A
meeting was held at the Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture
(MoES&C) to discuss ways of accelerating implementation of the
HIV/AIDS Life Skills Education and School Rehabilitation Projects.
The result was the formation of a 14 member Task Force with representatives
from all of the Ministry’s divisions and UNICEF. The Taskforce has
since identified and recommended the hiring of consultants to carry
out the revision of the Life Skills curriculum and to assess the
amount of materials required, such as furniture and books, for schools
that had been damaged by Cyclone Eline and have since been reconstructed
by UNICEF.
UNICEF continues
to provide financial and technical support to the Counselling Training
Programme within tertiary colleges. Recent training has focussed
on staff. Support is also being provided to districts to carry out
training in community-based counselling for out-of-school youth.
A district co-ordination
meeting held in Hurungwe District to discuss UNICEF supported programmes
emphasized the need to link the successful community based counseling
programme with prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT)
interventions.
Mechanisms
of humanitarian co-ordination
The
UN Humanitarian Co-ordinator has organised extensive discussions
with the UN Country Team (UNCT) and donors over the last two weeks,
about improving quality of co-ordination and information management.
RRU has been working with UN Agencies to improve information sharing.
Urgent work is also being done to improve the quality and range
of the RRU website and the ‘Who is doing What, Where’ mapping.
The UN Humanitarian
Co-ordinator and the RRU are liasing with a wide range of agencies
on the development of a humanitarian framework for Zimbabwe. The
intention of the framework is to improve the focus and co-ordination
of relief and recovery efforts in the country.
A number of
mechanisms have been put in place to improve the quality of co-ordination
of humanitarian activities in Zimbabwe;
- Coordination
structures established within the UN Humanitarian Co-ordinator’s
Office provide a fora for the UN Country Team (UNCT), government,
donors and NGOs to meet on matters of humanitarian work, policy
reform and humanitarian constraints and access.
- A series
of working groups headed by the UN technical agencies bring together
the UN, GoZ, NGO and donors to discuss improved collaboration
in sectoral work. Sectors covered by these groups include Food
Aid, HIV/AIDS, Education, Water and Sanitation, Health and Nutrition.
- Some of the
larger international donors have co-ordination meetings with their
own partner NGOs.
- The heads
of NGOs involved in humanitarian work meet monthly to share information
and work on common strategies and advocacy with both the government
and the wider humanitarian community.
- The Zimbabwe
Vulnerability Assessment Committee is an important co-ordination
group responsible for assessing vulnerability on a quarterly basis.
Headed by the GoZ’s Food and Nutrition Council, the committee
brings together UN, NGO, SADC and GoZ technical staff to manage
the assessment.
- Most districts
have drought co-ordination committees that are made up of GoZ
ministries and NGOs. These committees discuss targeting, distribution
and vulnerability trends.
NGO registration
The
NGO registration process with GoZ continues, with a number of organizations
at the last stages of the approval process. The current status of
a number of organizations is as follows;
Approved
· Catholic Relief Services
In process of
getting approval
· Mercy Corps
· Goal
· Concern
· Medair
· MSF
· ACF
Disease
surveillance
Weekly
surveillance data reports from the Ministry of Health & Child
Welfare (MoH&CW) continue to show irregular reporting with constant
fluctuations in completeness and timeliness of reporting of epidemics.
The completeness and timeliness still falls short of the expected
average of 80%. The reporting centres, particularly those on the
periphery of the health system, continue to face chronic communication
problems with frequent breakdowns of telecommunication and thefts
of radio communication equipment. WHO are supporting a programme
to repair and replace radio equipment in the health system.
Training sessions
on Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) are planned
in all the provinces starting mid-May 2003. This is expected to
improve disease surveillance in the country and enable the health
system to detect and respond to epidemics promptly.
Severe
Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) Update
Zimbabwe
continues to be on the alert for SARS with all the ports of entry
into the country under strict surveillance. All visitors from affected
regions are put on surveillance during their stay or transit in
the country. The Task Force on SARS, under the stewardship of MoH&CW
continues to hold weekly surveillance meetings to monitor the situation
and strategise on the preparedness and response.
No cases have
been reported in the country since the outbreak was first reported
in Asia.
Malaria
The
malaria situation continued to worsen across the country with the
peak period experienced in the last month. It is expected that the
cases should start declining in the next few weeks with the onset
of winter. During week 17 there was a total 28,974 cases of malaria.
A team of experts from MoH&CW and WHO carried out a field support
mission in the worst affected districts in Midlands and Mashonaland
West Provinces. The team’s assessment indicates that the situation
is coming under control. However the situation in Gokwe and parts
of Kadoma has not improved with health facilities still attending
to a high number of cases with the majority being severe cases.
WHO secured
anti-malarial drugs and supplies, which have been distributed to
six of the most affected districts. WHO continues to mobilise resources
to assist in the malaria epidemic from the support of its partners
– UNDP, International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) and the
Global Fund to fight Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
(GFATM).
Diarrhoea
Data
from the MoH&CW National Weekly Surveillance System show a considerable
increase in diarrhoea cases compared to the same period in the past
2 years. Considering the current inadequate reporting mentioned
above the situation is expected to be worse than can be shown. This
calls for the strengthening of routine surveillance as the situation
may deteriorate with the expected critical shortage of protected
water sources due to the prevailing drought especially in the south-western
parts of the country.
NGOs, International
Organizations, Donors or private sector groups are welcome to submit
articles to the Humanitarian Situation Report. Articles for publication
in the next report should be submitted by 21st May to RRU at the
email address: rru.zw@undp.org
For additional
information or comments, please contact the United Nations Relief
and Recovery Unit, Harare Tel: +263 4 792681, ext. 207 or e-mail:
rru.zw@undp.org
This Situation
Report can be accessed on the Web at: www.reliefweb.int
then click on "by country", then click on "Zimbabwe"
Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.
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