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Zimbabwe Humanitarian Situation Report
The UN Humanitarian Co-ordinator’s Bi-Monthly Report
December 16, 2003

Planning the 2004 humanitarian interventions
Planning to adapt the 2004 humanitarian programme to the current situation is well underway. A mid-year review of the Consolidated Appeal was held on the 4th of December. This followed a humanitarian-planning meeting held in October, at which time critical priorities were reviewed. The major causal factors of the crisis were agreed to be:

• The macro economic policy environment;
• Severe economic decline;
• The deleterious effects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

These factors will continue to simultaneously erode self-reliance at household level and the quality of essential basic services at the national level, leading to rising vulnerability. Meanwhile the response capacity continues to decline, both at household and national levels.

The main factors currently raising the need for both food and non-food interventions include:

• The gap between the consumption of the entire crop from the previous season and the maturation of the next harvest in the first quarter of 2004 (January to March). This is the period when people will be most dependent on food aid.
• The cumulative effect of four years of continuous deterioration of livelihoods and basic services is such that the vulnerable populations require further support before they can recover and meet their needs. Serious food shortages in the first quarter of 2004 will need to be averted. The implementation of the humanitarian programme therefore will take account of the need for a balance in the support to food aid, essential services, and the need to begin a recovery process at household and national levels.
• The required farm inputs, to make the population produce for household self-sufficiency, were not adequate at the start of the season, leading to a large proportion of households being unable to farm. Therefore lack of availability and/or access to inputs could lead to a sharp decline in the crop yield in 2004.
• Water and sewerage systems in urban areas are in rapid decline due to a critical shortage of foreign currency to purchase essential spares and water purification chemicals. The resultant inadequate safe water supply, compounded by poor hygiene and sanitation, heightens the risk of water and sanitation related disease outbreaks including cholera, dysentery and diarrhoea. Breakdowns in the supply and/or quality of water are likely to be most severe in high-density, poor urban areas where water and sanitation systems are already most stretched and people live in very close proximity.
• A similarly critical environment is now apparent in rural water supplies which are being undermined by poor outreach maintenance, insufficient funds for fuel and health education activities. As a result, there have already been serious cholera outbreaks in the Zambezi Valley, one of the poorest areas in Zimbabwe.

In this light it is clear that there is need for a balance between the response to the food aid priorities and the essential basic services, from the start of the 2004. Funding for critical health services, water and sanitation and basic education is therefore required in parallel to the requirements for food aid.
It was decided, through the mid-term review of the CAP, that there would be a six-month extension of the current Appeal up to December 2004. Primarily this will lead to synchronisation of planning with the agricultural season. FAO is currently planning for the extension taking into account the needs for the next main cropping season. Extending the Appeal for a further six-month period will synchronize the Appeal with the agricultural calendar for Southern Africa and Zimbabwe in particular.

The planning exercises have recognized that HIV/AIDS has raised a plethora of issues throughout Zimbabwean society, necessitating a comprehensive response strategy linking immediate, medium and long-term priorities. The strengthening of co-ordination is vital in order to enhance the effectiveness of the significant interventions being made by Government, the international community and local organizations to address the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Impact of HIV/AIDS on agriculture
The Poverty Reduction Forum, a UNDP sponsored initiative, has released the report of a workshop on the impact of HIV/AIDS on agricultural productivity in Zimbabwe. The report includes papers by specialists, and professionals in the field from the Ministry of Lands Agriculture and Rural Resettlement, NGOs and the Farmers Unions. Productivity has been severely affected in the agricultural sector as a direct result of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the country. Research for the soon to be published UNDP Zimbabwe Human Development Report 2003 (which focuses on HIV/AIDS) found that: labour losses among farming communities is 23%, cropped area has declined by 39%, yield has declined by 59% and marketed output declines of 66% could be experienced in Zimbabwe's agricultural sector due to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Impacts include:

• Labour quantity and quality compromised through incapacitation and deaths. The workshop report estimates a 43% HIV/AIDS prevalence rate on farms compared to a national prevalence of 24.6%, highest among the 15-23 age range (the core of the agricultural labour force.
• Loss of agricultural extension workers through death, illness and discharge on medical grounds.
• A significant amount of man-hours have been lost - increased absenteeism because of illness, caring for the sick or attending funerals.
• Statistical decline in livestock and crop production among communal HIV/AIDS affected households.
• Decline in investment funding - Resources meant for agricultural production are increasingly being diverted to care for the sick, and for funeral expenses.

With the agricultural sector threatened in this way and at a time when food security is already a major cause for concern, urgent short and medium term initiatives in the HIV/AIDS sector are required.

The main responses put in place by the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement include, among others:

• Existence of a HV/AIDS desk in the ministry to spearhead HIV/AIDS programmes;
• Condom distribution;
• Making attempts to reduced the time field workers stay away from home;
• Holding awareness-raising workshops for extension and field officers

There was acknowledgement that these initiatives have been hindered by lack of resources.
The vast majority of funding in this sector from the international community, is channelled through NGOs and has focused on long-term development initiatives in core programmes, as can be seen in the following table.

Budget for HIV/AIDS Interventions

Strong collaboration contains cholera outbreak
The government, WHO, UNICEF and NGOs on the ground worked together in containing the cholera outbreak, which was reported in Binga District, Matebeleland North Province. The situation remains under control and no new cases have been reported since 17th November 2003 in Binga. However, in the Mola area of Kariba District the outbreak continues to spread. A cumulative total of 840 cases and 19 deaths (a case fatality rate of 2.3%) have been reported to date. The first case emerged on the 15th of October. During the week ending 14 November, 37 cases of cholera were reported in Mola. The following week (ending 21st November) 224 cases were reported and during the week ending 28 November 279 cases were reported. It must be noted that improvements in surveillance through improved co-ordination in the district could be a partial reason for the increases.

The Ministry of Health and Child Welfare (MoH&CW) working with its keys partners - the Civil Protection Unit, WHO, UNICEF and Save the Children UK - mobilized more manpower, medical supplies, fuel, food and financial resources for Kariba District.

The water treatment tablets donated were being utilized to treat drinking water for the affected communities. However, there is a critical shortage of water as most of the boreholes are broken down. This compromised the hygiene of the cholera patients and the general community. The lessons learnt from this intervention would further inform the preparedness planning that is being undertaken for the epidemics management across the country. Comparing this assessment with one held earlier in November, a number of improvements are noticeable;

• Overall improvement in the management of the outbreak compared to the findings of the earlier assessment;
• Improvement in the supply of material resources required for the outbreak control;
• Improved partner coordination through the Inter-Agency Coordinating Committee on Health.

Observed weaknesses:

• Management of outbreaks at district level needs improvement. The existing structure of Response Committees at various levels must be utilised and Emergency Preparedness and Response plans or operational guidelines to control the outbreak are necessary;
• Need for strengthening case management - indiscriminate use of antibiotics, use of IV fluids vis-à-vis use of ORS;
• Water and Sanitation:- The sanitation in the area remains very poor, there is also little water available in the community;
• Living conditions for staff are poor - de-motivating the field personnel;
• Community participation in control activities still low;
• Information sharing to other ministries and members of the civil protection has to be improved.

Rapid needs assessment planned for water and sanitation services
UNICEF will be working with GoZ and other partners in the planning for a rapid national needs assessment in the water and sanitation sector. It is expected that this assessment will take place early in 2004 and provide vital information on the water and sanitation needs of the vulnerable populations and the capacity of the water and sanitation systems to meet these needs.

With the rapid decline in services being experienced in both rural and urban areas and with the pending rainy season, water and sanitation interventions are urgently required. UNDP, with support from USAID and through a pilot intervention, are assisting Harare City Council with urgently needed water treatment chemicals. More funding in this sector is required to ensure that disease outbreaks are minimised.

Funding for water and sanitation is currently at 67% of requirements outlined in the Consolidated Appeal. However, with the increasing rate of decline of the water and sanitation services coupled with plans extend the Appeal period to the end of 2004, a revision of requirements is necessary. Through the Water and Sanitation Working Group, which is regularly attended by people from the government, international community and local NGOs planning and assistance needs are being identified.

Food security crisis continues to be experienced
Access to food by both urban and rural populations of Zimbabwe remains a serious constraint to food security. Prices of basic commodities continue to rise significantly. Food commodities have gone up by approximately 49% from last month's figures. From November 2002 to November 2003 basic food commodities including maize meal, sugar and flour have been available at prices that are beyond the reach of the ordinary Zimbabwean family. Food security is predominantly an access problem in urban areas whereas in most rural areas both access to and availability of food is limiting food security.

Food and non-food annual inflation

The report contends that without accelerated action to get more girls into school over the next two years, global goals to reduce poverty and improve the human condition would simply not be reached.

The official launch held at Belvedere's Teacher's Training College in Harare, discussed the growing challenges in Zimbabwe to keep girls in school and ensure they stay there until they graduate. The discussion focused on the issues of school fees in light of the growing numbers of orphaned children and the urgent needs to retain teachers, especially in rural areas and ensure the relevance and quality of education is improved.

In Zimbabwe, although gender parity in schools has been well above regional average (63% for boys, compared to 58% for girls), the impact of the humanitarian crisis has lead to an estimated 10% rate of school drop-out, many of them girls. With school fees set to increase by 400% in January when the school year begins, UNICEF and the humanitarian community in general is concerned that the number of drop outs, especially for orphaned and vulnerable children, will increase dramatically and the quality of existing services will deteriorate. There is special concern for the education needs and capacity for their delivery in the resettled areas, where the provision of basic social services is scant. Makeshift/satellite schools, serving an estimated 58,000 children, operate from often-temporary structures without the adequate protection from the rain or sun, and with few learning materials. This year UNICEF supplied 450 school-in-a-box kits to 346 satellite schools. As the school year begins again in January, it is crucial that the needed support to education materializes so to prevent more children being deprived their opportunity of education and further compounding the problems for the country's longer-term recovery. Funding in this sector remains very low. No funding has been received through the CAP for 2003/04.

The State of the World Children report presents an agenda for action, calling on humanitarian and development agencies, governments, families, and communities to focus and intensify their efforts on addressing the challenges that keep girls out of school. Essentially, the report calls for adjustments in how development is approached from the start.

Among specific measures, the report calls for:

• Creation of a national ethos recognizing the value of educating girls as well as boys;
• Education to be included as an essential component in development plans;
• The elimination of school fees of every kind;
• The integration of education into national plans for poverty reduction;
• Increased international funding for education
  

Information Reference of Humanitarian Assistance Meetings - December 2003
NB: Meetings are by invitation only. Please contact the focal point person if you wish information about any of these meetings

• 16th December '03: Food Aid Donor Group Meeting
  Contact: Makena Walker, WFP
• 18th December '03: UNCT Monthly Meeting
  Contact: Annika Rosing, UNDP
• 18th December '03: UN HC & NGO Meeting
  Contact: Annika Rosing, UNDP

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"

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