Govt allows NGOs to assist 'clean-up' victims

The Zimbabwean government has agreed to allow aid groups to offer humanitarian assistance to the hundreds of thousands of people being displaced in its controversial urban clean-up drive. Authorities previously said the government had ample resources to cater to the needs of evicted families, but Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo has now announced that the government had resolved to allow donors to provide assistance, mainly in the capital, Harare, and Zimbabwe's second city, Bulawayo. However, Chombo stressed that the NGOs would have to adhere to certain regulations. "Anyone with genuine intent and concern is allowed to assist, but there are rules to be followed. Already we are working together with organisations, such as the Red Cross, who have done a good job in converting Caledonia Farm into a transit camp in the capital," Chombo told IRIN. Two farms - Caledonia on the outskirts of Harare and Hellensvale near Bulawayo - have been converted into holding camps for those whose homes have been destroyed by the 'clean-up' operation. Humanitarian authorities have warned that the camps lack the necessary facilities and cannot accommodate the number of people in need of shelter. The government started its crackdown on informal settlements and traders four weeks ago, arguing that the exercise was meant to rid urban centres of criminal activities. Human rights groups and the international community have condemned the campaign, which has left over 320,000 people homeless. NGOs confirmed reaching an agreement with the government to provide food, blankets, medicines and sanitation facilities in the camps. James Elder, a UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) spokesman, told IRIN the agency had begun offering support to those affected by Operation 'Murambatsvina' ('Drive Out Trash' in the Shona language) throughout the country and that they were particularly concerned about the plight of children, most of whom have been unable to attend school. UNICEF has established access to most 'clean-up' sites across the country and, in cooperation with various government ministries and a range of NGOs, has been distributing aid to affected women and children. "There is a lot of work we are doing throughout the country that includes disbursing blankets, putting up sanitary facilities, and [addressing the needs] of children," Elder said. UNICEF has appealed for more than $2.7 million to continue its existing activities, as well as to expand healthcare, deliver urgently needed non-food items, provide HIV prevention and care, and place social workers in key areas of the country as it steps up support to the thousands of children evicted from their homes. "Many children are now without shelter during winter, others have been separated from their parents and caregivers, schooling has been widely disrupted, access to water is difficult, and respiratory infections and diarrhoeal diseases are a real threat," said Dr. Festo Kavishe, UNICEF's representative in Zimbabwe. A government official, Ephraim Masawi, told state radio on Thursday that more holding camps would be set up across the country and a brigade of the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) had been formed to begin constructing houses for displaced families. According to the police, families would only be accommodated in the holding camps for a month while they either searched for proper accommodation in the townships or returned to their rural homes.