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Zimbabwe Humanitarian Situation Report Issue no. 7, May 2006
United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
June 29, 2006

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/KKEE-6R8SDM?OpenDocument&rc=1&cc=zwe

Humanitarian Situation Analysis

Food security and livelihoods
According to the Central Statistical Office (CSO), Zimbabwe requires 1.4 million tons of cereals to feed its 11.8 million population per year. However, there are contradicting reports on the expected yield of cereals during the maize harvest this year (between February and end of May). Government projections hold at 1.8 million tons (900,000 tons to be sold to the Grain Marketing Board and 900,000 retained by farmers) whereas the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) projected a total 900,000 tons, while other independent forecasters put the harvest at 1.2 million tons.

For details on the joint government, UN, NGO and donor Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZimVAC) assessments of rural and urban areas, see section IV. Assessments, Field Missions and Advocacy.

For details on the June 2006 joint FAO/NGO survey on the Impact of Agricultural Humanitarian Assistance in 2005/06, see section IV. Assessments, Field Missions and Advocacy.

Government media reported on 25 April that fees at public hospitals were increased from $300,000 to between $800,000 - $1 million Zimbabwean dollars. This was reportedly done to improve the quality of service in said hospitals. The hike comes on the heels of a 100 per cent increase in fees by private doctors, clinics and hospitals. The health sector appears to be one of the hardest hit by Zimbabwe's worsening economic situation, with reports being received that conditions in the public hospitals have deteriorated as drugs and trained staff are in short supply.

Nutrition
Further to reports of increased hospital fees affecting the general healthcare of the population, it was indicated during the UN/NGO Nutrition Working Group on 5 May that such fees are causing parents to withdraw their children from Therapeutic Feeding Centres in some locations. UNICEF discussed the issue with the Ministry of Health whereupon it was reported that fees should be waived for under-fives and over 65. Further details forthcoming.

For details on World Vision Zimbabwe’s Bulawayo Urban Vulnerability Assessment, see section IV. Assessments, Field Missions and Advocacy.

Child Protection
During the week of 14 May the Central Statistical Office (CSO) reported that at least 423,880 children in Zimbabwe are involved in child labour due to social and economic hardships. This accounts for approximately sixteen per cent of school-aged children in the country.

Shelter and NFIs
On the one-year anniversary of Operation Murambatsvina the need for shelter at Hopley Farm and Hatcliffe Extension remains high as the two areas have the largest numbers of vulnerable people awaiting allocation of housing under the government’s reconstruction programme, Operation Garikai. To date, in Hatcliffe Extension, IOM has provided an estimated 740 HHs with shelter; and 352 HHs in Hopley Farm.

IOM has identified an additional estimated 5,500 HHs in need of shelter assistance across the country, of which there are a total of 750 HHs in Harare, Mutare, Manicaland and Victoria Falls. Further to this, government sponsored media sources reported as recently as the week of 7 May additional evictions took place. This could result in an increased need for shelter and other assistance.

UN-HABITAT is now established in Zimbabwe and has USD $50,000 earmarked for shelter in Hopley Farm and Hatcliffe Extension.

Water and Sanitation
During the Water and Sanitation Working Group meeting on 28 April World Vision International (WVI) and the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) presented a joint case study on sustainability of water and sanitation projects based on the organisations work in Mkumbura communal lands from January – August 2003.

The study found that during this time period WVI/UZ drilled 22 boreholes, rehabilitated 52 boreholes, constructed ten toilets and trained pump monitors, health workers, school health masters as well as other public training sessions. Main findings included:

• updates on the success of trainings conducted on the repair and maintenance of water points, specifically in the case of women who were trained but not utilized in this regard;
• it was clarified that locally based government organizations are to monitor/sustain such programs after a handover from the implementing NGO.
• with regard to health, the study found that while there had been a high level (approximately 1,000) of diarrhoea cases in 2001-02 the number was reduced to 600 in 2003 though an increase was again seen in 2004.

Education
According to press reports, in the beginning of April fees in government-run primary schools went up from USD $4 a term to $18, while pupils in missionary schools increased to USD $564 instead of USD $221 per term. Pupils in private schools went to USD $1,000, up from USD $440 they paid last term. Parents and teachers in Zimbabwe warned that a rise of more than 1,000 per cent in school fees would force larger numbers of children to drop out and preclude others from all education. Furthermore, that according to the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe, an average family of five requires at least USD $350 every month for essential food and services, but average monthly incomes are often less than USD $100, and most informal traders fail to make USD $50 a month. On 4 May at least 70 children and over 100 women in Bulawayo protested against the hike in school fees. The women were arrested but later released.

Humanitarian Access
Zimbabwe media reported that in mid-May the government banned MSF-Holland from assisting displaced families at Hopley Farm, a camp outside Harare. MSF-H later resumed activities at Hopley on 29 May after establishing an agreement with government officials regarding their work at the camp.

Affected Populations
Government media sources reported that during the week of 7 May, police in Harare rounded more than 10,224 alleged ‘squatters’ and street children. The stated purpose of the round up was to screen people in order to determine their villages of origin and send some of them to rural areas. This action, at the onset of winter, was reportedly one of the fresh clean-up campaigns launched on 12 April and comes almost a year after Operation Restore Order/Murambatsvina took place. (For UN response, see section IV. Assessments, Field Missions and Advocacy.)

Civil society organizations across Zimbabwe commemorated the one-year anniversary of Operation Murambatsvina from 17 – 19 May. Despite the government’s cancellation of the planned parades in Matebeleland, the church-organized prayer sessions to commemorate the incidents did take place. Media reported that John Makumbe, Head of Transparency International in Zimbabwe, was arrested on 17 May in Harare allegedly in connection with the planned commemoration activities.

The number of populations initially affected by Operation Murambatsvina between 19 May – 28 July 2005 was estimated at 300,000 - 700,000 people depending on sources. The number of vulnerable people is presumed to have increased in the past year due to the deteriorating economic situation in the country. It is hoped that future humanitarian assessments will provide a better picture of the actual number of vulnerable populations in need of assistance in the country.

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