IRIN interview with UN Resident Coordinator, Jose Victor Angelo

Many analysts predict Zimbabwe will run very short of food early next year. With donor relations at an all time low, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Zimbabwe has continued to engage the government in seeking solutions to the growing crisis. UNDP Resident Representative and UN Resident Coordinator Jose Victor Angelo spoke to IRIN about UN efforts to coordinate an effective humanitarian response to the food shortages and the importance of next week's critical UNDP assessment mission to Harare. QUESTION: Do you think the government of Zimbabwe has accepted the reality that growing food shortages combined with severe economic problems are going to lead to a humanitarian crisis unless there is rapid intervention ? ANSWER: The government has formally approached the UN Resident Coordinator here in Zimbabwe with an appeal for humanitarian assistance, both for food and non-food items. This appeal is basically related to what the government sees as the drought and flood problems. Q: Given that predictions are becoming increasingly bleak, has the government appealed for sufficient resources to avert a humanitarian crisis? A: The appeal is quite comprehensive. However, it does not cover the needs of the population in urban areas. But as far as the needs in rural areas are concerned, yes I would say it is a comprehensive one. Q: Relations between the government and many traditional donors are currently less than cordial, how do you think that appeal is going to be viewed internationally? A: My opinion is that Zimbabwe still has quite a large number of friends in the international community, including within the donor groups. The donors are definitely interested in looking at the appeal and we have been talking to the donors about the appeal. The key question is to make sure that whatever assistance is provided is provided in a non-partisan way. Q: The critical Presidential election is now just a few months off. Would the UNDP seek guarantees from all stakeholders that food and other aid will not be used politically in the run-up to the poll? A: We have no conditions on the table. But we as the United Nations system in Zimbabwe we are looking at the delivery mechanisms and we are going to make a number of proposals to make sure that the selection of beneficiaries is transparent and those in real need benefit from the programme. Q: So UNDP is pushing for as transparent an aid distribution process as possible? A: It's not just UNDP, its the UN system, we have the different agencies from the system involved in this. I am doing it in my capacity as United Nations Resident Coordinator. What we are trying to put in place is a mechanism to ensure that the delivery of assistance is as transparent and impartial as possible. Q: What will be the UNDP's role in coordinating this humanitarian response? A: There's no role for UNDP to coordinate, I'm doing that as UN Resident Coordinator. So UNDP is just one of the players, there are other players, the World Food Programme is a major player, WHO (World Health Organisation) is another major player, UNICEF, FAO (Food and Agricultural Organisation), the World Bank, so there are a number of agencies involved under the guidance of the resident coordinator. We have been able to establish a mechanism to bring the different agencies together under a relief and recovery unit, that's a UN unit. We're also in very close consultations with OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs), so it has really been a collective effort by the UN system here in Zimbabwe to respond to the emergency needs. Q: Is there a need for an urgent donor conference to address this crisis? A: Urgency is certainly something we have to take into account. We are trying to do our work as quickly as we can. We have not yet decided if we are going to hold a formal donor conference or just hold a number of meetings to share our appeal with the donors. But certainly it is urgent to start moving, we have been preparing ourselves for quite a while and we will be formally approaching donors very soon. Q: How soon? A: Very soon means certainly before the end of the year. Q: UNDP is hosting an assessment mission to once again look at the land issue in Zimbabwe. That team will be in place next week, what will it be doing ? A: The UNDP mission, which also comprises people from the European Commission (EC), Commonwealth Secretariat and the World Bank as well as technical advisers from the FAO will try to come up with programme framework for land reform. So we are going to do an assessment of the situation on the ground, not just for the sake of finding out what has been done so far, but basically to be able to prepare a programme proposal. That will be the first stage of the mission, to come up with an outline of what would be a land reform programme that could be accepted by all the stakeholders, both domestic and international and see if there is consensus around that outline. Q: But hasn't that process already more-or-less taken place? A: In December of last year the administrator of UNDP wrote to government suggesting a number of options in terms of the land reform. The letter we sent to government in December 2000 is still the basis for our approach to land reform. But we also have to take into account almost a year has elapsed since then, the realities on the ground are different and based on our original proposal we will see what outline we can put together at this stage. Q: Is this UNDP mission going to look at whether the Abuja agreement - that commits Zimbabwe to end violent farm occupations in exchange for British funding of a transparent and legal land programme - is being adhered to? A: We are not going to comment on the implementation of Abuja, we are going to collect a number of facts that will allow the different players involved in Abuja to see if things are moving or not. Q: Is there a lot hanging on the success of this mission? A: This mission is certainly a critical step in the process. Many eyes both inside and outside Zimbabwe are now on the outcome of that mission, so we are taking this very seriously. We hope to be as constructive and imaginative as possible in terms of being able to propose an outline that meets the approval of the different players. Q: What are the differences between government's fast track land programme and UNDP's proposals for peaceful land reform? A: There are some differences. We really believe a land reform programme is required, it must be done as soon as possible, but it must be done in a way that takes into consideration poverty reduction as well as the implementation capacity. We cannot go faster than the implementation capacity existing in the country. Even if we mobilise a lot of resources there is only so much that one can do in a given period of time.