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Zimbabwe Complex Emergency Situation Report #4, FY 2009
USAID / DCHA
March 17, 2009

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Background

Conditions for most Zimbabweans remain difficult due to the ongoing cholera outbreak, the country's collapsing economy, limited access to basic social services and staple foods, the effects of HIV/AIDS, poorly maintained infrastructure, and political instability and violence. Government of Zimbabwe (GOZ) policies and corruption have exacerbated humanitarian conditions. Through nearly a decade of economic decline, characterized by hyperinflation and high unemployment, the GOZ has failed to maintain the infrastructure necessary for agricultural production, water and sanitation, power generation, and steady fuel supply. To date, food security remains precarious as a result of poor governance, fluctuating global food prices, and low crop production due to insufficient access to seeds and fertilizer, drought, commercial land redistribution policies, and violence targeting farm workers.

In September 2008, the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) and opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) signed a power-sharing agreement, but ongoing disagreement regarding several areas of implementation resulted in deadlocked negotiations. On January 30, 2009, following renewed negotiations moderated by the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), the MDC agreed to take part in a unity government. On February 13, MDC ministers officially joined the government, though substantial inter-party tensions remain over issues such as the detainment of an MDC deputy minister appointee, recently released on bail.

On October 6, 2008, U.S. Chargé d'Affaires a.i. Katherine S. Dhanani reissued a disaster declaration in Zimbabwe due to the complex emergency. On December 16, the U.S. Chargé d'Affaires a.i. declared a disaster due to the effects of the cholera outbreak. As part of ongoing response efforts to the cholera outbreak, USAID/OFDA activated a Disaster Assistance Response Team (USAID/DART) to identify humanitarian needs, evaluate response effectiveness, conduct field assessments, and participate in U.N. cluster meetings. In FY 2008 and to date in FY 2009, the U.S. Government (USG) has provided more than $297 million for protection, disaster risk reduction, agriculture and food security, economy and market systems, humanitarian coordination and information management, and water, sanitation, and hygiene programs in Zimbabwe, as well as emergency relief supplies and emergency food assistance.

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