USAID Calls On Zimbabwe to Allow Humanitarian Access to Needy People

  In addition to this rescission, USAID also calls upon the Government of Zimbabwe to: 

• Communicate to all levels and divisions of Zimbabwean authorities—including national, provincial, district, and ward—that the suspension of NGOs has been completely rescinded.

• Guarantee the safety and security of all humanitarian aid workers.

• Guarantee unimpeded access for humanitarian organizations to provide impartial, need-based assistance to affected populations and to monitor aid programs.

• Respect the right of affected populations to move freely to seek and receive protection and assistance without fear of intimidation or unlawful seizure of humanitarian aid.

According to the United Nations, nearly 5 million Zimbabweans will require emergency food aid in the coming months, and as a result of election-related violence, thousands of people have been displaced from their homes.  A humanitarian crisis looms, yet the Government of Zimbabwe continues to suspend most non-governmental organizations’ (NGO) access to vulnerable people in dire need of life-saving humanitarian assistance.

After traveling to Zimbabwe and consulting with humanitarian organizations, UN agencies, donor representatives, and Zimbabwean citizens, Ky Luu, USAID’s Director of the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, has seen first-hand the impact of this suspension of humanitarian access.  For two months now, humanitarian workers have been ordered to stay in their offices instead of delivering aid to vulnerable children and families.  UN agencies have been blocked when trying to access areas of greatest need.  Humanitarian workers are routinely harassed and intimidated, and the financial resources of many organizations have been impounded by the Zimbabwean authorities, Luu said.

For more information about USAID’s emergency humanitarian assistance programs in Zimbabwe, please visit: www.usaid.gov/our_work/humanitarian_assistance/disaster_assistance/countries/zimbabwe/template/index.html 

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From USAID Administrator, Henrietta H. Fore