The two, who met Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai at his Harare offices on Monday, said they were going to continue supporting government efforts to improve the lives of Zimbabweans
We are here to extend and further strengthen the already existing relations between the UN and the Zimbabwean government. My visit today was to talk to the Prime Minister about the actions of the government and find out how the UN can further support those efforts, said Noudehou.
We are very pleased with the achievements of the inclusive government, and we are glad that the Prime Minister really understands where the country is going and how we can work together, he said. Noudehou took over the baton from long-serving resident representative Agostinho Zacarias two months ago.
The UNDP has been at the centre of funding the constitutional outreach, which last week was dealt a body blow when donors pulled the plug on the supplementary budget that had been drawn up to conclude the outreach programme in Harare and Bulawayo – an estimated US$8 million.
The incoming Word Vision National Director, Edward Brown, said although he was yet to meet with NGO partners and continue the dialogue in which his predecessor had been actively involved, the initial signs were good.
Both the UNDP and World Vision have been heavily involved in humanitarian aid in Zimbabwe. World Vision was banned by Mugabe in 2008 when political temperatures hit boiling point, prompting its temporary withdrawal from humanitarian relief and development operations.
At the time, World Vision had activated a relief programme that involved distributing 4 000 metric tonnes of food that benefited about 700,000 people, including 400,000 school children in supplementary feeding programmes and 100,000 elderly and chronically ill people in institutional feeding efforts.
Post published in: News