Fore also called for the Zimbabwean government to communicate to authorities
at all levels that the ban has been rescinded, and to guarantee the safety
of humanitarian workers.
Though the Zimbabwean government this week announced a partial lifting of
the ban imposed June 4 on food distribution by non-governmental
organizations to permit the resumption of feeding programs for HIV/AIDS
patients, the wider NGO distribution ban remains in effect and continues to
block the flow of food aid to an increasingly distressed population.
The U.S. government among others deplored the ban on aid distribution when
it was imposed and has been calling for it ban to be lifted. But the latest
appeal from Fore was informed by a direct assessment by Ky Luu, director of
USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance.
Reached early this week on another assignment in the Democratic Republic of
Congo, Luu told reporter Carole Gombakomba of VOA’s Studio 7 for Zimbabwe
that “the situation is extremely alarming and it is deteriorating by the
day.”
Luu reported “an atmosphere of desperation” as consumers struggle to feed
themselves and their families amidst hyperinflation that has driven the
price of a loaf of bread from 20 U.S. cents in May to US$1.70 recently, when
the average Zimbabwean makes $4 a month.
VOA
Post published in: News