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Monthly
Humanitarian update
United
Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
August
27, 2010
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/SKEA-88PJCJ
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Key
Points:
- Resurgence
of cholera outbreak reported.
- 480,000
households to receive agricultural input support.
- 1.3 million
rural Zimbabweans expected to be food insecure during peak hunger
season
Situation
Overview
Humanitarian
needs in Zimbabwe are still large and substantial. Despite a significant
improvement compared to 2008/9, little has happened to consolidate
the gains and the situation remains fragile and uncertain. Consequently,
the country remains vulnerable to the impact of unseen new emergencies.
As a result,
agencies in Zimbabwe need $478 million to meet the country's immediate
humanitarian needs through the Consolidated Appeal Process (CAP).
This is an additional $100 million above the initial $378 million
requested when the 2010 appeal was launched in December 2009. The
increases are largely for agriculture, food aid and health-related
projects.
Key priorities
to be addressed by the revised 2010 CAP include improving levels
of food security, prevention of and rapid response to disease outbreaks,
protection-related issues and response to natural disasters. Food
aid activities, initially scheduled until April 2010, were extended
to December 2010 due to the protracted dry spell from mid-December
2009 to February 2010, which affected food security in parts of
the country. Currently about 540,000 people require food aid, a
figure expected to rise to 904,000 from October to December 2010
and subsequently 1.3 million at the peak of the hunger season from
January to March 2011; 4.5 million people have limited or no access
to safe water and sanitation in rural and urban areas; 1.6 million
children require support to access education while there has been
a marked decline in student enrolment at schools since 2006; and
15,000 severely malnourished children under 5 years are at very
high risk of dying in Zimbabwe.
The fragility
of Zimbabwe's humanitarian situation is largely because of the prevailing
degradation of infrastructure in the basic sectors of health, water
and sanitation and food security. While some early recovery activities
are ongoing as part of humanitarian actions, the lack of major funding
for recovery and development remains a major hindrance to moving
the country out of a situation of generalized humanitarian need.
The humanitarian
response, through the CAP, contributed to saving lives by providing
food to vulnerable populations and supporting vital social services
including health and education at a critical point in Zimbabwe's
history, despite funding challenges.
However, currently
the 2010 CAP is only 41.6% funded. Lack of funding at this critical
point threatens to reverse progress made between the latter part
of 2009 and now. Support is desperately needed to avert loss of
more lives and a further erosion of social infrastructure. Without
sustained interventions Zimbabweans remain vulnerable to unforeseen
emergencies as illustrated by recent multiple disease outbreaks
such as cholera, malaria, measles and typhoid which resulted in
preventable deaths.
The humanitarian
community continues to appeal to donors for increased funding. On
their part, humanitarian partners will continue to render assistance
through instruments such as the CAP. All activities will be undertaken
while ensuring humanitarian and Government priorities remain complementary
in all sectors. In parallel, efforts should be made to address the
root causes of resurging humanitarian needs through restoration
of basic infrastructure and livelihood programmes. A concerted effort
by all stakeholders, including the GoZ, donors and the humanitarian
community, is essential in this regard.
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