Funding needed for food aid and social safety nets

In July this year the United Nations, together with NGO partners, appealed for US $419 million to address critical needs in six Southern African countries. But some $317 million is still outstanding as the region faces a catastrophe brought on by poverty, food shortages, HIV/AIDS and declining social services. In an update on the Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP) Humanitarian Appeal for Southern Africa, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said "millions of people in the Southern Africa region are at risk, despite recent improvement in food security". "The people of Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe are struggling to cope with a food crisis, poverty and HIV/AIDS. Following massive food shortages in 2001-02, the region's populations face a complex crisis caused by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, food insecurity, poverty, weakened governance capacity and declining social services," OCHA added. In June 2003, United Nations agencies estimated that some 6.5 million people in rural areas would require food assistance until the harvest in April 2004. OCHA warned that a food gap remained, despite signs that cereal production improved in these countries during 2002-03. "In some countries, up to 33 percent of the adult population are infected with HIV. As a result, millions of young people are left to fend for themselves, and more than three million children are thought to be AIDS orphans in the six countries," the organisation said. Safety nets needed OCHA said support for social services in the areas of water, health and education, capacity building "and other safety net strengthening activities are needed at a minimum, to protect the lives and future of children and a growing number of orphans in the region". This would assist in simultaneously addressing the current crisis and the long-term needs of the region. The 2003 appeal followed "an enormous humanitarian effort during 2002 and 2003, which helped to significantly reduce the impact of massive food shortages, and prevent further deterioration of vulnerable communities". Agencies request that donors contribute the US $317.8 million still required under the July 2003 appeal for the region.