UN to launch Zim appeal

The 2010 Consolidated Appeal Process (CAP) will be launched by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) during a ceremony in Geneva, Switzerland.

Last year a total of 35 appealing agencies, including UN agencies, inter-governmental organisations, international and national NGOs, and community and faith-based organisations, appealed for US$550 million to implement programmes and projects as part of the CAP 2009.

The amount was revised upwards in May this year to US$719 million due to what OCHA said were Zimbabwes rising humanitarian needs in the face of a deadly cholera outbreak and food shortages.

A cholera outbreak, which began in August 2008, killed more than 1 400 people and affected about 100 000 others before it was contained in July while more than half the countrys 12 million-plus population were estimated to require food aid this year.

OCHA observed at the time that the magnitude of the economic decline and erosion of sources of livelihood was such that it was unlikely that Zimbabwes humanitarian needs would lessen in the short term.

Zimbabwe is currently among the top five recipients of humanitarian assistance, according to statistics from OCHA.

Other top recipients were Sudan, the occupied Palestinian territory, Pakistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Donors had by last Thursday committed more than US$434 million or 60.4 percent of the US$719 million sought for Zimbabwe.

No major change is expected in the 2010 humanitarian appeal as Zimbabwe’s political and economic crisis has not improved significantly since the formation of a power-sharing government by President Robert Mugabe and former opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

The shaky coalition government has been rocked by sharp differences over appointments and policy, which has chased away potential donors.

Experts are forecasting another poor harvest during the 2009/10 farming season amid shortages of inputs and prospects of below normal rainfall.