Loss of "fragile gains" without donor support - UN

The United Nations on Friday called on donors to step up assistance for its operations in Southern Africa, warning that without immediate contributions the "fragile gains" made over the last 12 months could be destroyed. "This is an extremely serious situation and, even though there are fewer people at risk, there are still millions across the region desperately in need of assistance. The enormous gains made last year are now threatened by the lack of funds to continue supporting the most vulnerable, especially women and children," James T. Morris, the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Humanitarian Needs in Southern Africa, told journalists in Johannesburg, South Africa. In July the UN appealed for US $530 million - $310 million for food relief and $220 million for non-food items - to address the needs of 6.5 million vulnerable people in Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Morris noted that donors had so far contributed just 20 percent of the required funds, leaving a shortfall of $423 million. The appeal for non-food items had raised only $9.5 million, or 4.3 percent, of overall needs. He said the regional humanitarian operation expected to "struggle through" the next three months but, without urgent international support, the UN could find itself in an "extraordinarily serious predicament come January, February, March," and added that "starvation will be a major factor shortly". According to the UN Regional Inter-Agency Coordination Support Office (RIACSO), current projections showed an alarming outlook for the "critical hunger period", with a total shortfall of 74 percent in January 2004, escalating to 95 percent in February, and culminating in a 100 percent break in the pipeline in March. While harvests had improved in Malawi, Zambia and Swaziland, there were still urgent food aid requirements in Zimbabwe, Lesotho, and southern Mozambique, Morris said. In Lesotho, two summer harvests and the current winter harvest had been poor as a result of persistent drought. The World Food Programme (WFP) was expected to begin general distributions targeting food-insecure beneficiaries this month. As many as 800,000 people in the tiny country could face food shortages in the coming months. Morris made specific mention of the complex humanitarian environment in Zimbabwe and reiterated the government's recent commitment to abide by humanitarian principles and promote the impartial delivery of food aid and other assistance. "Donors have been concerned about developments in Zimbabwe. This has been resolved following the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the government and WFP last week. Recent public statements coming out of Harare affirm that food delivery will be conducted in a non-partisan manner. Already, since then, the United States has pledged $22.8 million and the Netherlands $1.4 million, which is expected to ease the pipeline," Morris said. Morris noted that the government had also approved Save the Children UK as an implementing partner for the WFP general food distribution programme. In October 2002 the British charity and Oxfam, another British NGO, were banned from distributing food aid supplied by the WFP. Over four million people in Zimbabwe face food scarcity, with HIV/AIDS compounding the impact of shortages on vulnerable households. The number of people in need is expected to rise to over 5 million at the height of the lean season. Morris said HIV/AIDS had taken its toll on the region's agricultural workforce, posing a serious threat to food security in the long term.