“The government has with immediate effect lifted the suspension of operations of private voluntary organisations and NGOs,” said a social welfare ministry statement read on state television.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai had called on Wednesday for the immediate resumption of aid programs in the country, saying the country faced “a profound humanitarian crisis”.
The welfare ministry said aid organisations involved included those working in “humanitarian and food assistance, relief, recovery and development, childcare and protection and rights of people with disabilities”.
“Others are those involved in HIV/AIDS treatment, care and other support services,” it said.
On Wednesday, Tsvangirai demanded that “NGOs be allowed to resume humanitarian assistance – distributing food, medicines and life-saving assistance.
“This destructive policy of banning humanitarian assistance can be reversed with one letter,” he said.
Earlier this week, the United States ambassador to Zimbabwe James McGee raised serious concern with Zimbabwe’s continued ban of food aid.
Harare banned some NGO’s from distributing food accusing them of politicizing food distribution to effect regime change.
More than 5 million Zimbabweans will suffer food insecurity in the next nine months, a million people more than the previous year, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and World Food Program (WFP) said in its crop assessment forecast released on 18 June.
“The Mission estimates that 2.04 million people in rural and urban areas will be food insecure between July and September 2008, rising to 3.8 million people between October and peaking to about 5.1 million at the height of the hungry season between January and March 2009,” the report said. – AFP
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