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Lukewarm support for Zim appeal Print
Written by Staff Reporter   
Monday, 08 February 2010 16:56
HARARE – Donors have so far contributed just under US$9 million towards Zimbabwe’s humanitarian appeal for 2010, raising fears that the country may again struggle to shake off the effects of a decade-long political and economic crisis that crippled most social services.
Data released by the United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) showed that donors had by February 4 given US$8.9 million or about 2.4 percent of the US$378 million asked for by the UN last November. The contributions are even lower – at about one percent of the total appeal – if some US$5 million given to the World Food Programme by the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) is removed from the amount so far contributed. The CERF is a special UN fund that assists under-funded emergencies around the world.
The only other donor contribution is some US$3.9 million given by Denmark to OCHA to assist towards the emergency relief effort. Observers attributed the lukewarm donor support for Zimbabwe’s emergency appeal to fatigue by the international community which is waiting for real movement in efforts to unlock the logjam affecting the southern African country’s political negotiation. Like other countries in crisis, Zimbabwe is also likely to be affected by the flight of donor funds to the international relief effort for Haiti earthquake victims.
Zimbabwe was the fifth largest recipient of humanitarian aid in 2009 after Sudan, Pakistan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Sri Lanka. It was also the third highest recipient of CERF funding last year, getting some US$26.8 million from the UN fund for under-funded emergencies. Somalia received the highest amount from the CERF with more than US$60 million while the DRC got US$30.5 million last year.
 
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