What do Elders want to assess in Zimbabwe?

THIS week there was an announcement that a ‘group of Elders’ was planning on visiting Zimbabwe to assess the extent of the humanitarian crisis in the country.

Many reports have been issued on the crisis in the country.

The Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWSNET) issued a report this month saying “very poor availability of maize seed will delay and limit planting for the 2008/09 agricultural season” and that this would lead to severe food shortages in the country.

The report also stressed that “Forecasts predict an increased likelihood for below-normal to normal rains over key cropping areas … resulting in low yields.”

“The pace of commercial and humanitarian imports into Zimbabwe needs to accelerate if the country is going to bridge its cereal deficit in the current marketing year,” added FEWSNET.

“Very poor availability of maize seed will delay and limit planting for the 2008/09 agricultural season. Forecasts predict an increased likelihood for below-normal to normal rains over key cropping areas … resulting in low yields.”

FEWSNET recommended that “The pace of commercial and humanitarian imports into Zimbabwe needs to accelerate if the country is going to bridge its cereal deficit in the current marketing year.”

The Global Fund approved US$169million for Zimbabwe’s fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

The cholera epidemic was covered extensively in both independent and state media showing the extent of the humanitarian crisis in the country.

Zimbabwe activated the Civil Protection Unit, its national disaster response agency, to help open cholera clinics and provide public information to combat the epidemic. The UN children's agency, UNICEF, and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have also been assisting in the provision of safe drinking water.

As we publish this piece, the UN is asking for a record US$7 billion to help 30 million people in Africa and the Middle East. John Holmes, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, at the Consolidated Appeals Process launch in Geneva on 19 November, said this money was needed to “keep people alive” and avert humanitarian crises in Africa and the Middle East.

Kenya, DRC, Burundi, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Sudan (Darfur), Burkina Faso, Uganda, etc all need food aid. The World Food Programme has increased assistance in all these countries with Zimbabwe alone set to receive 500-million-dollars and 350,000 tonnes of grain to millions in the country.

As we commemorated World Food Day on 16 October 2008, global forecasts estimated that the world economic slowdown was going to push 100m people into poverty, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa.

It is therefore clear that the situation in the region is one of grave concern.

In the case of Zimbabwe, more action (not rhetoric) is now needed to avert the crisis. Talking of increasing sanctions when millions are being driven into poverty and death is irresponsible global governance.

Zimbabwe does not need any more people to visit and assess the humanitarian crisis in the country; especially in the form of Elders. The WFP and the UN Humanitarian Affairs office have done a sterling job of identifying the crises in the country. Urgent action is now needed.

Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has been privy to many reports before on the country, but he chose to not use his good offices then to deal with the crisis in the country. The humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe and the region is not new and Mr Annan knew about this crisis all along. There is nothing more to assess. Action is now needed to rescue millions from starvation.

In any case, Mr Annan still has to finish the work he started in Kenya – a country which is also facing a serious humanitarian crisis. Millions in that country are facing starvation and malnutrition and millions of children are dying on the streets of Nairobi.

The country is still reeling from the effects of the presidential election violence that killed 1,300 people and drove 300,000 from their homes.

We urge the former UN chief to finish off reading the Waki Report, the result of an official inquiry into the bloodshed in Kenya, which accused 10 unidentified senior individuals in the Kenyan government of systematically planning murderous tribal attacks, before he can concentrate his efforts on the Zimbabwean crisis.

[Michael J. Chidenhe (not real name) is an officer of a specialized UN agency. He writes in his personal capacity.]