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Integrated Regional Information Network for Southern Africa

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SOUTHERN AFRICA
IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 131
14 - 18 July 2003


CONTENTS:

ZIMBABWE: Official appeal for food aid finalised
COMOROS: AU delegation hopes to smooth troubled waters
ANGOLA: Repatriation of Angolan refugees going smoothly
BOTSWANA: Concern over Zimbabwean illegal immigrants
NAMBIA: German aid to speed up land reform
SWAZILAND: Obstacles to food security mount 
ZAMBIA: Agreement with US on ICC extradition
AFRICA: Global AIDS fund faces serious shortfall
MOZAMBIQUE: New malaria vaccine trials could save children
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Cash needed to prevent aid pipeline breaks, WFP


ZIMBABWE: Official appeal for food finalised

The government of Zimbabwe was ready to submit a formal request for
continued food aid to UN agencies, an official told IRIN on Friday.

Lancaster Museka, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Social Welfare,
said the document had been finalised and would be submitted to the World
Food Programme (WFP).

This followed warnings by the WFP that it was unable to secure donor
support for its food aid programmes because an official request from the
government for aid was a prerequisite of "several major donors".

The latest crop and food supply assessment mission by the WFP and the Food
and Agriculture Organisation estimated that 4.4 million people in rural
areas and 1.1 million in urban areas would require food assistance in
2003/04.

More details: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35486

Delay blamed on figures

IRIN reported on Tuesday that a disagreement over official crop forecast
figures has been identified as the reason why the government of Zimbabwe
has delayed in making a formal appeal for food aid.

The latest crop and food supply assessment mission by the UN World Food
Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimated
that 4.4 million people in rural areas and 1.1 million in urban areas
would require food assistance in 2003/04.

More details: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35407

Fresh outbreak of foot-and-mouth deals blow to livestock industry

Zimbabwe's livestock industry was dealt another blow this week with
reports of an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) on two farms south
of the capital, Harare.

Officials told IRIN an investigation was under way to determine the source
of the infection and that Mashonaland West, Mashonaland Central and
Mashonaland East provinces had been put under a "movement embargo" pending
the outcome.

"We had hoped that the situation would have been stabilised by now, but
the most recent outbreak is at the centre of the export zone. This means
that it is unlikely that there would be a resumption of beef exports to
the EU [European Union] in the foreseeable future," Hargreaves said.

More details: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35467

Inflation puts basic foods out of reach

Zimbabwe's Consumer Council (ZCC) on Thursday said the latest jump in
inflation would put the price of basic commodities further beyond the
reach of the urban poor.

The Central Statistical Office pegged the inflation rate for June at 364.5
percent, more than 64 percent up from the previous month's high of 300
percent.

"Price increases continue to push the cost of living for the urban poor
well above their income levels," CCZ director Elizabeth Nerwande told
IRIN.

More details: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35466

Economic revival programme struggles to do the job

According to the UN Human Development Report 2003, Zimbabwe dropped to
145th position from 128th place achieved in 2002. Observers said this was
mainly due to soaring inflation, acute food shortages and a decline in
foreign investment.

Life expectancy at birth in Zimbabwe is now estimated at 35 years for the
period 2000 to 2005, as compared to 61 years in 1990. Moreover, the
country has one of the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rates (34 percent) in
sub-Saharan Africa.

More details: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35408


COMOROS: AU delegation hopes to smooth troubled waters

Officials in the Comoros were optimistic on Wednesday that a meeting
between a delegation from the African Union (AU) and the authorities would
provide a resolution to the archipelago's ongoing constitutional crisis.

The mission is part of efforts to end the political struggle between the
semi-autonomous islands and the federal government.

The visit follows last month's "congress" held in Pretoria, South Africa,
which aimed to address obstacles barring the way to free and fair
parliamentary elections on the Indian Ocean islands.

More details: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35429


ANGOLA: Repatriation of Angolan refugees going smoothly

The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Zambia on
Thursday said it would be scaling up the voluntary repatriation of Angolan
refugees.

Some 509 refugees began the two-day journey home from Zambia at 8:30 am on
Thursday, UNHCR spokesman Kelvin Shimo said.

According to a UNHCR statement, this was the second convoy to leave from
Mahebe refugee settlement, in Zambia's northwestern Solwezi district. Some
387 refugees returned to the Cazombo municipality in Angola's eastern
Moxico province in the first repatriation on Friday, 11 July.

More details: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35462

Rehabilitation vital to food security - FAO

The UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) on Wednesday said the
rehabilitation of rural infrastructure in Angola was key to kick-starting
agricultural development.

"The first step to agricultural recovery is a commitment to repairing key
roads and bridges. This will give rural people access to inputs, so that
they can move forward and start growing food for themselves, and also for
sale in the markets," FAO deputy resident representative in Angola, Paolo
Vincente, told IRIN.

Vincente said FAO was working with the government on a food security
programme that would facilitate the transition from an emergency phase
towards long-term development.

More details: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35432

Kimberley process gets under way

On Tuesday IRIN reported on efforts by the government to curb the illegal
trade in diamonds. The Angolan council of ministers passed a decree
containing the regulations for setting up a diamond monitoring and
certification mechanism in accordance with the Kimberley Process.

"The next step we'd like to see is participants of the Kimberley Process,
including Angola, agreeing to regular independent monitoring to ensure
that the process is working and not open to abuse," Corinna Gilfillan of
Global Witness told IRIN.

More details: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35413


NAMBIA: German aid to speed up land reform

The German embassy on Friday confirmed that part of a recent development
aid package for Namibia would go toward the country's land reform
programme.

"Germany has recognised that there is a political need for land reform in
Namibia. The funds are intended to assist the government's efforts to
fully implement its programme. It must be noted, however, that we support
reform that is carried out under the law, according to practices which are
economically and ecologically sound," acting German ambassador
Klaus-Dieter Duxmann told IRIN.

Germany has pledged US $25.66 million in aid to its former colony, of
which $7.8 million will be channelled to "technical assistance".

More details: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35485

Refugee food distributions delayed

Meanwhile, the WFP this week warned that a serious maize meal shortage had
delayed food distribution to refugees in Namibia's Osire camp.

WFP said food distribution to the 18,000 mainly Angolan refugees in Osire
had been delayed until later in the month. The agency said it only had
enough maize meal to provide half rations, and the problem could extend
into August.

"The government of Namibia currently has a ban on importation of maize, in
order to encourage local purchase during [the] harvest season - and local
purchase cannot be justified, given exorbitant current local prices for
maize. WFP is awaiting a reply to its appeals to the government for an
exemption to the importation restrictions," the UN food agency said.

More details: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35443


BOTSWANA: Concern over Zimbabwean illegal immigrants

The volume of illegal Zimbabwean migrants crossing into Botswana in search
of work has created an unwelcome burden for the country's law enforcement
agencies, Botswana police and immigration officials have warned.

"They overstretch our facilities and resources because illegal immigrants,
once apprehended, have to be placed in temporary shelters like detention
centres and prisons," police commissioner Norman Moleboge told IRIN on
Thursday. "We do not have the manpower to deal with this problem."

According to Botswana's Department of Immigration, 26,717 Zimbabwean
illegal immigrants were apprehended and repatriated from Botswana last
year alone.

More details: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35469

Govt defends agreement with US on war criminals

Botswana defended its decision to conclude an agreement with the United
States exempting US citizens in Botswana from being indicted for war
crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Amid local controversy over the agreement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
and International Cooperation said the decision was based on Botswana's
national interest. It maintained that Botswana and the United States
"enjoy excellent relations" which had brought many "tangible benefits to
the people of Botswana".

More details: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35435


SWAZILAND: Obstacles to food security mount

On Thursday IRIN reported that WFP had begun a new emergency relief
operation in Swaziland this month to assist 132,000 people in immediate
need.

The number of Swazis without food will increase as storage bins are
depleted by the end of August when the winter season finishes. Some
158,000 people will need assistance from August through December. In 2004,
as the nation awaits the summer harvest, projections indicate at least
217,000 Swazis will be foodless.

Erratic weather has now extended Swaziland's food security crisis into its
third consecutive year. In the dry lowveld region, 50 percent of farmers
harvested nothing.

More details: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35468

King, unions strike deal in run-up to SMART summit

Meanwhile, IRIN reported on Monday that a spirit of compromise was at work
in Swaziland between the royal government and pro-democracy forces
agitating for political reform.

"In a spirit of national dialogue, we are suspending a nationwide work
stoppage to give government more time to address our concerns," said a
statement issued on Monday by the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions
(SFTU), the Swaziland Federation of Labour (SFL) and the Swaziland
National Association of Teachers (SNAT).

The labour unions had planned a workers' stayaway for Friday that would
close schools, and had the potential to shut down most commercial and
industrial activity. Announcing the cancellation of major demonstrations
in the central city of Manzini and the southern provincial capital,
Nhlangano, the secretary-general of SFTU, Jan Sithole, said a march to the
prime minister's office would take place instead.

More details: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35377


ZAMBIA: Agreement with US on ICC extradition

Zambia this month signed a bilateral agreement with the United States not
to extradite US citizens accused of war crimes to the International
Criminal Court (ICC), a US embassy official told IRIN on Friday.

Zambia's decision to sign an "Article 98" exemption agreement under the
Rome statute setting up the ICC means that US military aid can now be
resumed. Zambia was among 35 countries punished by a US domestic law
banning US military assistance to those who refused to conclude the
treaty.

More details: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35481

Focus shifts to recovery programmes

On Wednesday the Zambian government said the country had produced enough
food to feed itself this year and was not appealling for relief aid.

The official Zambia News Agency (ZNA) reported Minister of Agriculture
Mundia Sikatana as saying the country had about 120,000 mt of surplus
maize which could be exported to neighbouring countries.

Elizabeth Phiri, permanent secretary in charge of cooperatives and
marketing in the Ministry of Agriculture, told IRIN on Wednesday that "we
have not [issued an appeal], other than just requesting that NGOs and the
private sector can assist [us] in moving food from production areas to
[food] deficit areas".

More details: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35439

Interview with Richard Ragan, WFP Country Representative

On Friday IRIN interviewed Richard Ragan, WFP Country Representative, on
Zambia's recovery and the ongoing challenge of food security.

More details: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35491

Focus on repatriation of Angolan refugees from Zambia

On Monday IRIN reported on the mixed emotions that marked the first
voluntary repatriation of Angolan refugees from Zambia.

On Friday last week, some 387 Angolan refugees left Zambia for their
country of origin in what has been described as a "historic" repatriation
exercise.

More details: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35371

AFRICA: Global AIDS fund faces serious shortfall

The cash-strapped Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB) and
Malaria fell under the spotlight on Wednesday, when ministers from 14
countries met in Paris, France, to address the fund's financial woes.

The fund, which has committed US $1.5 billion to programmes in 92
countries in the last 18 months, faces a lack of money for proposals
waiting to be funded in October.

The shortfall is estimated to be at least $500 million for 2003, and a
further $3 billion is needed to cover grants through the end of 2004.

More details: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35442


MOZAMBIQUE: New malaria vaccine trials could save children

Doctors in Mozambique are hoping that a new malaria vaccine will provide a
breakthrough in lowering the toll the disease is taking, IRIN reported on
Tuesday.

Trials starting on Thursday are expected to test the efficacy and safety
of the vaccine, known as RTS,S/AS02A, on 2,000 children. Previous trials
in Europe, the United States and Mozambique have suggested the vaccine is
safe and effective for adults.

More details: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35409


SOUTHERN AFRICA: Cash needed to prevent aid pipeline breaks, WFP

On Monday, IRIN reported that WFP had warned that its aid pipeline to two
of the countries most affected by regional food shortages, Zimbabwe and
Mozambique, could be in danger.

In its latest situation report the WFP said it was "urgently seeking cash
resources for regional procurement of commodities, in order to quickly
mobilise stocks and pre-empt looming distribution shortfalls from
September onwards".

While there were considerable carry-over stocks from the past emergency
operation, "the majority of these commodities are still at origin or in
transit and will not be available for distribution in-country until the
latter months of 2003".

More details: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35369


IRIN-SA
Tel: +27 11 880-4633
Fax: +27 11 447-5472
Email: IRIN-SA@irin.org.za

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Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2003


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