Annan "concerned" with government refusal of aid

Although victims of Zimbabwe's recent urban clean-up campaign remain in desperate need of humanitarian assistance, the government has rejected offers of help from the United Nations (UN). UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's spokesman said in a statement that Annan was "deeply concerned by the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe" and disturbed by the continued suffering. A UN report estimated that Operation Murambatsvina - which the government said was aimed at clearing slums and flushing out criminals - had left more than 700,000 people homeless or without a livelihood after kicking off in mid-May. Annan made a "strong appeal to the government of Zimbabwe to ensure that those who are out in the open, without shelter and without means of sustaining their livelihoods, are provided with humanitarian assistance in collaboration with the United Nations" and other aid agencies. Months after the eviction campaign the UN continued to receive reports that tens of thousands of people were still homeless and in need of assistance. "He is particularly dismayed to learn that the government of Zimbabwe's ad-hoc inter-ministerial cabinet committee has rejected offers of UN assistance," Annan's spokesman noted. Zimbabwe's Minister of Local Government, Public Works and Urban Development stated in an official letter to the UN that there "is no longer a compelling need to provide temporary shelter [to people left homeless by the clean-up campaign] as there is no humanitarian crisis". The minister also claimed that the government's interventions had addressed the most urgent shelter needs. However, the secretary-general's spokesman commented, "The above statements directly contradict the report by the Secretary-General's Special Envoy on Human Settlements Issues in Zimbabwe, Ms Anna Tibaijuka, as well as most recent reports from the United Nations and the humanitarian community. A large number of vulnerable groups, including the recent evictees as well as other vulnerable populations, remain in need of immediate humanitarian assistance, including shelter. Furthermore, there is no clear evidence that subsequent government efforts have significantly benefited these groups." The spokesman noted that the government had taken the decision to decline assistance despite extensive consultations on relief efforts in the past few months between the UN and Harare. "Meanwhile, the impending rainy season threatens to worsen the living conditions of the affected population." An aid worker in Harare told IRIN there was no indication that the government's attempt to ease the suffering of those affected by the clean-up had worked. Houses being built under the government's 'Garikai' (Live Well) programme were being occupied by civil servants, police and soldiers, "while those affected by the clean-up are being sent to rural areas". The humanitarian community had been "waiting for that letter from the minister", hoping it would give them the go-ahead to provide assistance, but the offer was turned away.